


Pandora Changes People

by YayaPear



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, M/M, Rhys has a secret, Siren Rhys, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-09-24 12:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9727655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YayaPear/pseuds/YayaPear
Summary: Rhys never thought hiding the fact that he was a Siren would be that hard. All he had to do was cover his tattoos, right? He's done it very carefully and properly, that's why no one on Hyperion knew. If they did, they'd use him,  tear him apart. But Pandora's different. Everything there seems too close to you, it makes you reveal your secrets, push you to your limits. Rhys and Vaughn learn this the hard way.Written according to the first chapter of the game.





	1. Chapter 1

Being a Siren while climbimg the Hyperion corporate ladder definitely wasn't easy. The amount of cunning assholes and their dimwitted minions, who would capture and use you for their own good was too high. Rhys definitely did not want to end up locked somewhere for research purposes, or as an extraordinary form of energy source to power some dickweed's ECHOphone. As cheesy as it might sound, he wanted to make his own destiny, walk down his own road. Get to the top of Hyperion fair and square, show others how it’s done. Turning back on his Siren self, turning a blind eye to all his powers he jumped headfirst to the world of paperwork, accounting and bureaucracy. He couldn’t say he expected all the backstabbing, frauds and airlocking, but he was no pansy. He was tough, quick to learn, knew which parts of him he had to hide and which to show to get what he wanted. He wanted everything. No, scratch that… **EVERYTHING!** But when he looked to his right and felt his heart swelling, he knew he was more than willing to share.

Vaughn was walking beside him, both heading to one of the main offices of Hyperion to get what was rightfully theirs. The promotion. Rhys was barely holding back a smile. Finally the game was about to be stepped up. Big office, big money, big cars, big impact on the company. He felt his left hand tingle under his clothes and he clenched his fist nervously. Perhaps he shouldn’t be so excited about it, after all, the seat is still not their’s. But it was hard not to be excited about the promotion when Vaughn was blabbering about it next to him, barely doing any pauses to breathe.

“What’s the first thing you’re gonna buy? I know what Henderson’s making…I do his payroll. Even if you get a fraction of his earning you’ll still be rolling in money. Being an exec in Hyperion comes with certain expectations.” Rhys thought for a little while. Maybe he should take small steps, get something that would please all of them.

“I figure we could get a lunch. That seems like a good place to start.” Vaughn snorted

“Then we’re starting with three of whatever’s the most expensive. And wine pairings!”

“For lunch?”

“We’re getting twisted, bro! If I’m not puking out at least five hundred dollars of food and alcohol tonight, we’re doing something wrong.” Rhys grinned. Wine pairings, yeah, sure. He’ll leave Vaughn to it. When Rhys drinks he likes to sing…in his own quirky way. Last time that happened everything made from glass in sixty feet radius just exploded, along with a few eardrums. But he has a really good singing voice too! They finally reached the big sliding door to Henderson’s office.

“I’ll call Yvette to book us a table to celebrate.”

“Uhm.” Rhys said unattentively, staring at the big door. His future was right there, behind them. Their future. He felt Vaughn’s hand on his shoulder, so he turned to him and met his eyes.

“Look Rhys, we had to do a lot of awful stuff to get to this point. Do I regret some of it? Sure I do. Every night it haunts my dreams, but that doesn’t matter now. ‘Cause you made it! You deserve it, man. And don’t ever think that you don’t.” Rhys frowned slightly.

“Hey, hey…We made it, okay? If I’m moving up, we’re all moving up. You can be certain of that.” Vaughn’s grip on Rhys’s shoulder lightened, but then it got stronger. Rhys felt his fingers on the sensitive patterns etched into his skin. It made his spine tingle.

“Thanks Rhys. I appreciate it. Lots of people around here have a short memory when it comes to things like this. I’m glad you’re not one of them.” They smiled at each other fondly. Vaughn then let go of him, leaving just a ghost of a touch on Rhys’s arm, those places throbbing, feeling very alive. Rhys clenched his teeth as a rush of energy crawled from his arm straight to his head.

“Allright man, let’s get that Hyperion face on!”  Vaughn said giddily.

“Oh, right. Yeah.” Rhys shook his head slightly. Focus. He propped his hands at his hips and turned his head to the right with a cold, serious expression, imagining himself as a model for a propaganda poster.

“Yeaaaah, tilt your head back a bit more… that’s it, you don’t respect me at all. Heh, nice new tattoo you have over there, did you get it to celebrate? You could’ve told us, we’d get matching ones.” Vaughn pouted and Rhys broke his pose, looking at Vaughn with a startled expression.

“What are you talking about?” He looked at his hands, but no marks were showing. Vaughn pointed at his neck.

“Here, under your jaw. Don’t tell me you don’t know about it.” Rhys’s hand covered his neck and felt around it.

“No, I didn’t put anything there, no tattoos…” his fingers stopped at one place where his skin was tender in the very same way the marks on his flesh hand were. His eyes widened. He hoped they wouldn’t grow anymore. They stopped spreading a long time ago, why start now? Why now, on this very day? Vaughn read the confusion on his face.

“Bro? I know this is some weird shit but…you can’t back off now.” That sobered him up. There were more important things to do.

“I’m not going to. I’ll get it checked when my ass is seated over there.” He said and pointed at the office door. Vaughn gave him a strong reassuring nod and they both grinned at each other. That’s right, all Rhys had to do now was focus. The metal door slid open and let Rhys through. He walked with his head held high. This is it, he thought. Another step up the ladder. A warm feeling was seeping through him. The view on Pandora from there was breathtaking. He could get used to it, turning his big comfy chair around to gaze upon the planet after closing a perfect deal. He’ll show everyone how deals are done in Rhys town! The door closed behind him with a crash and he just then realized that Henderson’s chair was turned back to him.

“Mr. Henderson?” He asked hesitantly.

“Have a seat Rhys, I’ll be with you in a second. No, I wasn’t talking to you. Yes, I’m talking to you now.” A non-Henderson-y voice said, clearly talking to someone on phone. It sounded awfully like Vasquez, but Rhys refused the thought of it. A mere look at that asshat’s face would ruin his big day.

“Yeah, but I don’t want it in red. I want it in black…” But still. Rhys looked at the nameplate on the desk:

HUGO VASQUEZ

 SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF SECURITIES PROPAGANDA

 

Motherfucker.


	2. Chapter 2

Henderson’s dead, blood-shot eyes were haunting even from afar. Seeing him float outside the office, frozen and rigid gave Rhys chills and also raised at least a couple. hundred red flags in his head. He knew immediately what’s up. He just never expected Vasquez, the office rat to do this kind of assery. But seeing how he strided across his new office, lecturing him about fate and destiny, enjoying his five minutes on sunshine made Rhys realize that it was no accident or a sudden chance he took, Vasquez planned this. That son of a bitch. Rhys had to be very careful with what he says and listen to Vasquez for now.

“But don’t worry Rhys, the promotion you were promised is still happening. It will take you out of the way of other people’s destiny and put you on your own path. And that, my friend, is why I’m promoting you to…” A beep interrupted him and he glared at his ECHOphone.

“What?  I hope you’re calling me to tell me my ride is on the way!” He yelled at the device. Rhys rolled his eyes. What an ass.

“N-no, what are you talking about? It’s August, I’m calling about the Vault Key deal we have? Are you gonna buy it-“ Vasquez hit the loudspeaker button as fast as he could, but not fast enough. Rhys raised his eyebrows. A Vault Key? That sounds way too interesting. He pretended to examine his shoes while Vasquez typed something down on his computer, but he was listening carefully. The deal was obviously more important than whatever the hell he had in store for Rhys. Maybe he could beat something out of it if things get too sour.

“Ten million…it’s just, that’s a lot of money to get on short notice. I mean, I’m not trying to be obstinate, but I just need more time.” He muttered but still loud enough for Rhys to hear. Vasquez then walked to the large window and started to walk from left to right, discussing the deal with the April guy. Rhys felt the chance tapping at his shoulder. He thought of reaching for the computer, but that would be too obvious. He knew how to be careful. He activated the ECHOeye and began to browse through Vasquez’s desktop. He had the internet browser opened with a few tabs, some text documents and one encrypted file, which Rhys began to decrypt, hoping he wouldn’t get any malware or virus from it. He wouldn’t have thought about it unless it had already happened to him. That time he had to walk around for a month with an eye that was twitchy and showing him all kinds of porn and dick-enlargement ads. Gross. But this time it decrypted just fine and he stroke a bull’s eye. It contained information about the Vault Key deal. He quickly downloaded it while Vasquez wasn’t looking. It could come in handy. Before turning his ECHOeye off, he set Vasquez’s computer to show never-ending update screen. A small test of his patience.

“Why are you trying to screw me on this?” Rhys flinched, thinking that Vasquez was yelling at him, but he was still on the phone. He leaned back on the chair and looked around. He thought back of all the bullshit Vasquez told him about the path and destiny and great power and responsibility. He knew that this was his destiny, not Vasquez’s.

“Oh, fine, just wait there, okay? I can only be down…well if it really is ten million dollars I’m gonna need another hour or two. Okay, yeah. I’ll be there in a bit. Well then just stay there, it’s a tourist shop, buy a mug or something. Okay, okay, okay, sure. Love ya, bye.” Rhys snorted. What? Vasquez hung up the phone, looking at Rhys with a slightly shocked face.

“Did I really tell him ‘love ya, bye’? God dammit, force of habit…Anyway, what were we talking about?”

“My promotion.” Vasquez squinted at him. Rhys pictured the screws in his head turning, trying to remember, while being powered by a sweaty hamster in a wheel. It nearly made him laugh out loud.

“Oh…right. Your, uh, promotion.” Why didn’t Rhys like the way he said ‘promotion’? Vasquez came to Rhys’s side of table and sat on it. “Henderson was a fool. He didn’t know his place. He needed lesson number one…humility. But I respect you, Rhys. That’s why I’m going to make you Assistant…Vice…”

Perhaps it could still be good.

“Janitor.” For a second Rhys’s face showed complete shock. He expected a lot of things, hell, he even expected Vasquez to try to airlock him, but this? This can’t be happening. A fucking…what? Vasquez probably took his silence as a sign of submission.

“Report to sewage scow twenty three, effective immediately.”

“No, no, no, you can’t…”

“I’m the boss now, Rhys, I do whatever I want. Now get to work, the toilets won’t clean themselves.” Rhys rose from his chair, sending it clattering to the ground. A new wave of anger rose in him, his blood boiling. His markings were burning. He raised his hand and pointed a finger at Vasquez’s chest.

“I’ll make you pay for this Vasquez! There won’t be a day when I wouldn’t try to…” There was a shift in the air, he felt it immediately.

He reacted with pure instinct.

He dodged Vasquez’s fist aimed for his jaw and suddenly they were on the floor, his metal hand on Vasquez’s throat, his face holding in a hateful, feral grimace while the other hand was high above him, clenched like a claw and slowly starting to glow with bright blue energy. What the hell? Vasquez was looking at him, eyes wide and startled. The window overlooking Pandora was still trembling from how loud Rhys had yelled. Rhys’s heart clenched in fear. No, this couldn’t have happened. This was a mistake. His grip on Vasquez’s throat loosened. Vasquez used Rhys’s stunned state, hit his metal hand and bashed his nose with his forehead, hearing a satisfying crunch. That sent Rhys to the floor with a loud grunt. Vasquez stood up with a lot of effort and heaved a sigh. Seeing Rhys curled on floor with blood pouring out of his nose immediately raised his spirits. He was back on top.

“This. This is what I’m talking about when I say humility. Learn your place, Rhys, it’s right there where you are now.” Rhys sat up, held his bleeding nose and glared. That was all he could do. The Siren-ish lashout was a mishap. He won’t let that happen again, even though everything in him was telling him to give in and just burn through this asshole’s face with pure energy. He scrambled up to his feet.

“You’re dismissed Rhys.”Vasquez said, but Rhys was already on his way.

“I’ll let you know when I need my trashcan emptied!” Rhys knew Vasquez said it just to show him who had the upper hand, but it pissed him off even more. He slapped the door-opening button and let some of his pent up energy flow into the system. The button’s circuits however didn’t stand a chance against Rhys’s power, it let out a few sparkles and broke down, killing the door’s locking system. But at that time Rhys was already out of the office. Vasquez squinted after him. Sure, Rhys was pissed, but he’ll get past it. There will be a time when he finally understands that he, Hugo P. Vasquez is better than him. That Rhys is too soft to do this kind of job, too kind-hearted. A flash of doubt stroke Vasquez. He didn’t seem so kind when he was choking him on the ground, all crazy eyes and everything. And there was another thing. Maybe it was just Vasquez’s imagination, maybe it was an illusion, but he thought he saw a bright blue glow coming from Rhys’s direction, felt a scorching heat, just for a split second. He walked over to his computer. There was no way Rhys could react so fast and pin him down to the ground like he was nothing. He’ll take a look at the CCTV footage from his office to see what really happened.  

Unfortunately, his computer was updating, not even one percent done.


	3. Chapter 3

Rhys was really glad he downloaded the Vault Key deal files form Vasquez’s computer. Now they had leverage on him. As soon as he walked out of the office Vaughn joined him, equally pissed off. Rhys felt like a seething volcano of energy, his barely controlled outbursts causing almost every electric device around him to malfunction. Only Yvette’s light hearted approach and Vaughn’s threats towards Vaquez calmed him down and made him able to think. By the time Yvette asked what he was about to do, if he planned to stay a Senior Assistant Vice Janitor, he already had a rough sketch of a plan in his mind. He knew they had to steal Vasquez’s deal, get down on Pandora and snatch the Vault Key. Then they’ll be kings. The only thing Hyperion cared about more than money, were Vault Keys. And stealing Vasquez’s car to do it was a cherry on top.

They were standing by the deployment room, waiting for the car to arrive, only two doors separating them from space. Vaughn was standing next to Rhys, a briefcase filled with “borrowed” money handcuffed to his wrist for safety. Vaughn was shifting his feet nervously, looking around. Waiting was the worst, he felt like they could get caught at any given moment. He didn’t understand how Rhys could be so calm. His mismatched eyes were looking at the darkness of space through the thick glass of airlock with a calm smile on his face, that warmed Vaughn’s heart and made it tingle. He didn’t get to see that very often. They were usually discussing work or coming up with plans to rule the world, where Rhys’s smiles were more confident and winning. Now he felt like he was seeing a part of Rhys that he didn’t like to show to the world around him. Vaughn knew why. With the company overflowing with people ready to use your weaknesses it was a clever move to not show any. But it was a pity. That smile suited Rhys, it was pure and passionate of sort. There wasn’t a hint of calculation or malice, only a vibe of calmness and pleasure. Vaughn loved to look at it.

“What are you so happy about?” He asked and Rhys flinched away from the window, running a hand through his hair nervously.

“A-ah, nothing. I was just…thinking.”

“About…?”

“The space…I really like to look at it, calms me down.” Vaughn knew there probably were things left unsaid, but he didn’t want to prod around.

Rhys was indeed thinking of space, about how limitless it was and how it felt to float through it. After all, Sirens were also called the Children of Stars, it only made perfect sense that he felt a natural pull towards it. He was built to travel across the galaxy, to roam the stars and use currents of solar wind, made to naturally find vaults and artifacts leading to them. Right now his wings were aching to appear and take him away. He wanted to feel stardust on his face again, like that time he was thrown out of airlock. Vaughn would surely think he was insane if he told him it was one of his fondest memories. Of course, he was scared at first, terrified. It happened when he was still a rookie. His colleague Nathaniel lured him near the airlock, then pushed him against it and hit the open button. The bastard of course didn’t expect Rhys to grab him as well, so all of a sudden they were both floating around in space. Rhys was covering his mouth, holding his breath, waiting for something to happen, for death to come. He stared her right into her eyes, but she never came. He watched Nathaniel struggle for air, the veins in his eyes popping and in his skin going blue, him slowly running out of life. And yet Rhys felt nothing of that sort, on contrary, he felt better than ever. He felt like he drew the very first breath ever, his lungs spreading, taking in willingly the nothingness of the space. His heart was beating in excitement and his face split into the widest smile. That time he flew around the whole Helios, using his newfound ability. He always knew he had wings, he just didn’t know what they were good for, they wouldn’t carry him much on land. Now he knew. Unfortunately, after that he didn’t have many chances to fly around in space and he really missed it. There was a certain kind of serenity he felt only when he was floating freely in it.

The ride finally came. Vaughn whistled.

“Well, Vasquez clearly has a good taste in cars. When I think of what could happen to this baby on Pandora it almost makes me want to protect it with my body. Almost.” Thick mechanical door slid open and they walked to the car which was getting ready to be shot at Pandora. A strong smell hit Rhys’s nose. The airlock room smelled of space and dying stars. It made his tattoos throb even more. He cleared his throat and sat on the driver’s seat, excited as hell. But also scared. Vaughn sat next to him, resting the money loaded suitcase on his lap, drumming his fingers on it nervously. Two loaderbot units began to close the car in a metal shell, so it wouldn’t crash when it hits the surface of Pandora. It blocked out everything from the outside world, they were in complete darkness. Suddenly the whole shell jerked sharply.

“AAAaaah, ooohmygod, what is happening?” Vaughn yelped, looking around startled. Rhys gripped the steering wheel harder and lit up his mechanical hand only to see Vaughn’s pale face with eyes wide open.

“We’re getting loaded into the cannon probably.” A dull thump resonated through them as the cannon door closed. Then a loud hum appeared as the thrusters began to load.

“God, this was a bad idea…”

“Strap in, Vaughn!” Rhys yelled and they heard a roaring explosion, felt the acceleration pushing them against their seats. Finally they got shot out of Helios. Both screaming, Rhys from exhilaration, Vaughn from terror, they rocketed through Pandora’s exosphere. The car was shaking, throwing them up and down. Vaughn was swearing, shrieking at the top of his lungs. Rhys felt sorry for him, he wanted to calm him down somehow.

“Don’t worry, it’ll only last for a little while longer!”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Rhys, hold my hand, please!” Vaughn shrieked.

“Yeah, okay, hold on.” Rhys yelled back, but as soon as he said it Vaughn latched himself onto him, gripping his mechanical arm and his side in an iron grip, but not screaming anymore, just whimpering. The car jerked a few more times and then it got very hot as it burned through the atmosphere. Rhys’s ECHOeye informed him they would soon be “landing”. He hit the gas pedal and the wheels started to turn, preparing for the road. They probably hit something on their way down, because they heard a loud crash and the metal shell cracked in the front. It fell apart, exposing them to the bright desert sun. The landing went surprisingly well, considering they didn’t die.

The tires touched the ground, and the car jerked forward, wheels turning a bit too fast. They ran over a stone and Rhys lost control over the car. It sent them spinning in a cloud of dust, both of them screaming for real now. Rhys hit the brake, dust beneath them made a dull whimper and the car came to a screeching halt. They watched the dust around them settle in disbelief. Then Rhys looked at Vaughn latched onto him, one hand around his waist, other around his metal arm. Adrenalin rushed through them as they looked at each other, their faces close. Rhys felt Vaughn’s breath on his cheeks. Now he could lean in and…

“Bro, I could kiss you right now.” Rhys blurted out, realizing what he said only after he said it. Smooth...

What?! I..I can’t hear you!” Vaughn practically yelled at him. “Man, your lungs must take up ninety percent of your body. You scream, like, way too loud.” He complained while he tried to shake the ringing out of his ears. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, attempting to level the pressure. He let go of Rhys’s side, who looked away shyly. He didn’t mean to be so loud. He didn’t even notice.

“I have no idea where those decibels come from. Anyway…what were you saying?” What?...ah, yes…Rhys felt blood reaching his cheeks. He had no idea why he said that. Vaughn was just so close, his face holding the perfect expression, mouth slightly opened, wide eyes…it felt so good…the thought just occurred to him out of nowhere.

“Oh…nothing, just that we should…get going?”

“Yeah, sure!” Vaughn wiggled in his seat to get more comfortabe. Rhys was about to turn the key in ignition when Vaughn looked around, his gaze stopping behind the car.

“Now I’ll set the navigation and…”

“Fuck, Rhys, drive.”

“Wha-“

“Go, go, go, go DRIVE!” Vaughn yelled and Rhys looked into the rear mirror.

Psychos.

With buzz axes.

And runner cars.

Psychos riding on runner cars, waving their buzz axes around.

…Fuck


	4. Chapter 4

Wide eyed, Rhys turned the key in the ignition, shifted gears and hit the gas pedal. The wheels turned, dust flew and they hit the road.

“Oh god oh god oh god, why is this happening?!” Vaughn lamented.

“Vaughn I don’t know where I’m going, set the navigation for Christ’s sake!”

“Allright, don’t yell at me! Where are we going?”

“I’m not yelling! Prosperity Junction, the World of Curiosities!”

“Yes you are! There, I set it.” Vauhgn pulled away from the inbuilt navigation while it calculated the road.

“Good!” A map appeared on the display.

“Destination: set.” A chopped up female voice said. “Prosperity Junction. Turn around as soon as possible.”

“Uhhh, I think the fuck not.” Rhys spat.

“Can’t we go around or something? Or go off-road?” Vaughn asked, distressed. They were nearing a patch of dunes and a strange rock formation. The navigation beeped.

“Negative. You cannot go off-road on Pandora. You’ll get stuck in the sand. And die. You’ll fall down a cliff. And die. You’ll…”

“Okay okay, fine!” Rhys snapped. “keep the map opened, but mute. I’ve got an idea…I hope it will work, heh.” He added sheepishly.

“After running an analysis on the tone of your voice I came to the conclusion that there is a 98% chance your ‘idea’ is, like, really bad.”

“I said mute!” The display flickered, but the map was still showing. He looked behind. They were gaining on the Psychos, but he could still see them. He stepped on the gas pedal with even more strength. The motor roared. He chose to go right at the dunes and then drove at the highest speed for another two minutes or so. Then he hit the brake, bringing the car to an abrupt stop. They got thrown forward, safety belts stopping their bodies form crashing against the front glass.

“Rhys, what…” He then shifted to reverse and started going in the opposite direction.

“RHYS ARE YOU INSANE? WHY ARE WE GOING BACK?!!” Rhys was looking behind them, his mechanical arm propped against Vaughn’s headrest.

“I’m leaving false prints for them to follow. We’ll hide behind that rocks we saw earlier!” Now they were reversing at full speed. Rhys didn’t know why Vasquez decided to buy a car that had the same amount of gears for driving and for reverse, but now he was really glad he did. Reversing at forty miles per hour wouldn't do them any good. Vaughn was getting dizzy. They were so dead. This was not going to work. But he had no other plan, no better ideas. He had to trust Rhys. Soon they found the rock formation and dunes. Rhys slowly drove past the dunes and stopped behind the rocks. He turned the engine off and sat in silence, his body tense and leaned forward. They could see the desert from behind the rocks, the prints they made and the approaching hoard of Psychos. Vaughn was clenching the briefcase, hyperventilating. The air was getting thicker, sweat was dripping down their backs, but they waited. The hoard came…

And rushed right past them.

They waited a little longer, but then they threw themselves into their seats with relief.

“Oooh god, I can’t believe that worked.” Vaughn wailed and closed his eyes, focusing on his heart. It was going crazy. He looked at Rhys and they shared a stare.

And then they started to laugh like goddamn maniacs, still high on yet another rush of adrenaline.

“Rhys, you’re a bloody lunatic.” Vaughn managed to say between the laughs. Rhys turned to him with a grin.

“Yeah, but a bloody lunatic with good ideas.”

“ You heard the navigation, it was a horrible idea. Anyway- hey, what’s that?”

“What’s what?” Rhys turned around fast, looking out all the windows, but Vaughn caught him by his left shoulder and turned him around so they were face to face. He grabbed Rhys’s chin and lifted his head, turning it slightly to the right. Okay, wow. He didn’t mind Vaughn entering his personal space, but he sure would like an explanation. Hello?

“Dude, your neck is glowing!” Rhys quickly pulled away and covered his neck with his hand. Shit, he completely forgot. Like, completely and totally. Vaughn wasn’t supposed to see that. Rhys’s reaction made Vaughn suspicious.

“It glows just like your ECHOeye…Rhys, are you getting another upgrade?”

“What? No!” Rhys had to admit that it really sounded like he was lying. Vaughn lifted his eyebrow. He reached for Rhys’s hand that was covering his neck, but Rhys turned away.

“We should get going. The Psychos will soon realize we tricked them and they’ll come back for us.” Rhys said and started the engine. He drove past the rocks and back on the dusty road that, according to the map, led to Prosperity Junction. Vaughn was still looking at him. After about half an hour of silent ride he decided to speak up.

“Rhys?”

“Hm?”

“I know we should focus on the Vault Key deal but... I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“About what?”

“About you getting another upgrade.”

“Vaughn, I told you-“

“I know you told me, but just hear me out, okay? I don’t like it. I never complained that you got your prosthetics, because I know that you need them, but I don’t like the idea of getting your body cut up so you could install some more. Like, there’s a lot of stories about people who just couldn’t get enough of them and ended up looking more like robots on a construction line than normal people. And I don’t want that to happen to you.” Rhys was looking at him with kind eyes. The way Vaughn cared about him made him feel so special and warm. Not that he needed more warmth in the desert. But still.

“Vaughn…” He said softly, but Vaughn held up a hand.

“And I know that you probably feel like a thing like that can never happen to you, but that’s stupid. It can happen to anyone who starts doing it. And I don’t want my best friend to turn into a machine just because he thinks he’s not good enough the way he is. Because you are, bro. You’re really smart and you’re funny and you’re, like, _so_ handsome, you wouldn’t gain much from that, you’d only lose. I’d rather spend my days and nights trying to persuade you that you great just like this, than watch you get more and more cybernetics installed into you.” There was a pause. “That’s it, I’m done talking, howgh. What did you want to say?” He looked over at Rhys and the way he was smiling surprised him. It was a kind, knowing smile.

“Awww, Vaughn. How nice of you. Really, I do appreciate it. But I mean it, the truth is that I’m not getting any more upgrades. I’m good with what I have. I swear, Vaughn.” They locked their eyes. Rhys was still smiling lightly and it gave Vaughn one more reason to trust him. He could tell when Rhys wasn’t telling him the truth.He relaxed, but only a bit.

“So if there’s no new tech on you, then why was your neck glowing?” Rhys sighed. He looked at himself in the rear mirror, examining the new mark on his neck. He could see that it was connected to the ones on his arm and his chest. Now it was just dark blue, no glow. He’ll have to start wearing turtlenecks. Or cover the tattoos with a thick layer of makeup.

“I…”

He’d love to say ‘I don’t know’, or ‘a rare hereditary condition’. Hell, even ‘space cooties’ seemed like a better option that the truth. But he knew Vaughn would see right through the lie, it would offend his intelligence and make him feel like Rhys didn’t trust him at all, which wasn’t true. But he couldn’t say, he just simply couldn’t. For the sake of what happened to him in the past, for what had promised to himself. Maybe one day, but he wasn’t ready. Not yet.

“Listen Vaughn…it’s…it’s complicated and I…I don’t feel like now’s the time to discuss it. If you really, _really_ want to know…then I guess I’ll tell you, because you’re my best friend and I trust you. But we’ll definitely need to sit down for it somewhere calm where we can talk in private.” He stole a glance at Vaughn, who was looking at him with clear interest.

“Wow…okay. I understand, now’s not the time. I didn’t know it was that important. But you promise to tell me?” Rhys sucked in a breath. He tried to picture the situation where he spills the beans to Vaughn. He had no idea how he should put it so it would feel at least a bit normal. But unless Rhys would stop being friends with Vaughn, he would find out sooner or later. It would be better if Rhys told him himself.

“Yes. I promise.” The atmosphere was still a bit tense. Vaughn knew what to do.

“Pinkie promise?” Rhys laughed and looked at Vaughn, who wasn’t kidding. He had his hand stretched towards Rhys, his pinkie sticked up, inviting him for a promise. Rhys couldn’t help himself. He twisted awkwardly in his seat so he could use his flesh hand to make the promise, while his metal hand gripped the steering wheel.

“Pinkie promise, bro.” He said with a toothy grin. Vaughn was glad. Finally he was a bit calmer. They let go of each other and turned to watch the road. They should’ve done that sooner.

“AAAH CRAP!” Vaughn yelled as they hit something black. The crash was loud as fuck. Rhys screamed and stepped at brake with all his might. They stopped in a cloud of dust.

“Holy freakin crap, what-“ Rhys was panicking.

“What did we even- what did we even hit??” Vaughn was panicking even more.

“OOoooh!”

“I hope that wasn’t like a really ugly person.” Vaughn blurted and looked behind them. There was a skag lying behind them in the pool of its own blood.

“Ugh, ssssshcrap .I think…I think we killed it. Are we murderers now?” Rhys looked behind them as well. The skag was twitching, but that was all. He felt a pang of pity.

“I heard that Pandora changes people, but I thought it would take longer than half an hour.” Vaughn sighed.

“Well, at least it didn’t suffer.” Rhys said and let his eyes wander around “Oh hey, look! We’re here.” He pointed at the little town in front of them. He started the car, they shot one last glance at the dying skag and drove forward.

The town was even smaller than it at first looked like. The car seemed too big for the streets, they felt like everyone in the town was watching them. On one corner there was a group of men kicking the shit out of another guy.

“Well…that doesn’t look good.” Vaughn said as they drove past them, quickly locking the doors as one of the men turned to look at them.

“Well, that’s Pandora for you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know! I’m just now more acutely aware that I have ten million dollars chained to me, that’s all.” Vaughn snapped nervously. He was so twitchy when he was nervous. Rhys just wanted to grab him by his shoulders and do deep breaths with him until he calmed down.

“Just keep your eyes opened for the place, okay? I don’t want to be here any longer than we actually have to. Also, Yvette gave me this!” he said and pulled out a stun baton out of his vest pocket. “I don’t know how it works, but it’s definitely neat. And she can send us a Loaderbot anytime we need, in case things get too entertaining.”

“That is true.” Vaughn said, closing his eyes. His lips spread into an unstable smile. Rhys wanted to hold him.

They drove around the place but there was no clue of the World of Curiosities.

“Are you sure there isn’t any other place called Prosperity Junction?” Vaughn asked after they drove past the same pile of scrap metal for the third time.

“Yeah, this is the only one.”

“Then we could ask for help”

“No, it has to be somewhere near.” He should be feeling something, shouldn’t he? Sirens were supposed to feel the presence of the ancient Vault-y stuff, right? Like some sort of pull, or inner voice telling him where to go…

“We’re on a very strict time limit here, Rhys. If Vasquez comes down before we’re finished…I mean…I don’t even…” Rhys pursed his lips. Vaughn was right, they were just losing time. They pulled up at the main square where a few men were lying face-down in the dust and one guy was grilling skag meat in a portable cart.

“That guy looks normal-ish. Just minding his own business… We should go ask him.”

“Yeah, just wait a second.” Rhys looked at himself in the mirror again and pulled up the collar on his shirt so it covered the mark, at least temporarily. Vaughn watched him with concern. They got out of the car and walked over to the grilling guy. Rhys ran a hand through his hair, trying not to look nervous.

“Hi, uhm, excuse me…sir, do you know where the World of Curiosities is? It should be around here.”

“You lost?” The man asked with a raspy voice while chopping meat.

“Uhhh…”

“What are you here for?” His eyes were locked on the meat. It was making gross squishy sounds and blood dripped down from it from time to time. It made Rhys uncomfortable.

“Just a simple business deal. We come in, sign some papers and then we leave. Easy.” The man finally looked up from the meat, his eyes stopping at the Hyperion logo on Rhys’s vest.

“You’re Hyperion.” He stated with a cold voice, setting down the meat, but keeping the butcher’s knife in his hand. “You egg-suckers ruined this town, you know that? Atlas were bastards but at least they had the good sense to fail.” He walked around the cart and towards them, swaying the knife lightly at his side. Rhys squared his shoulders and set his jaw.

“Listen, all we want are directions to the World of Curiosities, that’s it, okay? We get that, we’re gone.”

“Gone, huh?” He took another step toward Rhys. Rhys took a step forward too, hand burning under his clothes, ready to react. Just give me a reason, any reason, Rhys thought. He stood good three inches above the man. The man’s gaze fell from Rhys to Vaughn, whom he seemed to notice just now.

“Hey kitty cat,” he purred, “what’s in that case you’ve got?”


	5. Chapter 5

Loaderbot was the best. They surely wouldn’t be able mow down two dozens of bandits by themselves. The skag meat grilling guy turned out to be some kind of bandit chief… overlord… thingy who could summon bandits with a whistle. They appeared on the roofs, walked out of side alleys, climbed out of dumpsters…practically they came out of nowhere, laughing and waving their guns around. Vaughn had gripped Rhys’s hand so hard his knuckles went white. But as soon as Loaderbot landed, crushing one of the bandits, the whole situation took a turn. The favors were on their side.  Rhys also got to try out the stun baton, which he was madly in love with now, promising to keep it forever. And Vaughn? Well…

Vaughn was traumatized.

They were at the entry hall of the World of Curiosities, behind the gate over which Loaderbot had thrown them before Rhys told him to escape. Poor thing got nearly destroyed by the bandits. Vaughn was crouching at the floor, looking at the pile of bodies on the street.

“I…I can’t believe I’m still alive. I mean, I **never** want to see another guy’s brains come out of their nose, not ever again!” He stood up abruptly. “Or get dragged behind a speeding car! That- that was the single scariest experience- of my entire life! Which should probably be over by now! But for some reason…it isn’t. But for those guys outside…” He was pacing around the hall like a caged lion, waving the briefcase as he spoke. Rhys couldn’t think of anything else, than spreading his arms. Vaughn stopped, gave him a look and then very eagerly crashed against Rhys’s chest, burying his nose in his shirt. Rhys held him in place, while he screamed into him, like he would scream into a pillow. It resonated through his chest and tickled him on the ribs.

“Unghhhh. I never thought I’d say this, but I can’t wait to get back to Helios.” He hugged Rhys with even more strength. T-that was a surprise! Rhys never thought Vaughn was this strong. Could he lift him? He blushed at that thought. H-he kinda liked it.

“Yeah, me too. And I’m really glad you’re here with me Vaughn, that we’re doing this together. These will be the stories we tell our children!”

“I don’t want to bring any children into a world like this.”

“Come ooon, you can’t tell me it wasn’t at least a bit of fun. That it didn’t feel kinda awesome to kick all those bandit asses.” There was a moment of silence. Rhys worried he’s gone too far.

“Allright…yeah, it felt…awesome” Vaughn said and Rhys could hear the smile in his voice “But I’m sure it was as traumatic as it was fun. We’re gonna need therapy when we get back up there.”

“We’ll be able to afford it. Now, come on, let’s get this deal done.”

“Just a bit longer, please.” He murmured. Awww. He was so adorable. Rhys held him close, looking down at him. Could he…like, he knew it was weird and all, but he really wanted touch Vaughn’s hair right now. Go through it with his hand…to calm Vaughn down, of course. It was such a nice moment…

Until a third party joined them. Literally.

“Such a wonderful act of affection!” They felt another body embracing them both. “Are you two not just the handsomest, cutest devils I’ve seen in ages!” What? Fuck! NO! Stranger danger! They pushed the stranger away with a yell. He was a wiry guy with big sunglasses on his face, a fisherman’s hat and a oversized dirty Hawaii shirt. There were all kinds of trinkets hung around his neck, the hat had a cocktail umbrella sticked to it and he seemed to have forgotten to put his pants on. All his joints were wrapped in dirty bandages, he had a patchy beard and a big, toad-like mouth.  Daamn he looked weird.

“So you don’t enjoy group hugs? What warms your cockles then? Group kisses? Group…”

“No!” Vaughn shouted. “Nothing! Please!”

“Oh, of course! How silly of me, those guys come in on Tuesdays! You must be here for the attraction then! My name is Shade and this…” He made a dramatic pause, “is my World of Curiosities. Come on in!” He said and grabbed Rhys by the sleeve to pull him.

“No, no, wait! We’re here to make a deal!” Rhys dug his heels into the ground to resist Shade’s pull. He heard the fabric of his sleeve ripping. Fortunately Shade stopped before he could rip it off completely. Rhys pulled his hand away from him. There was a tear at his wrist, his tattoos showing. He groaned, but didn’t let that distract him. “We’re buying a…thing. Something valuable. You know anything about that?” Shade’s face lit up. Questions from customers! He loved that!

“I know a lot of things about a lot of things! And this thing in particular too, heh… You’re here for August?” They both nodded.

“Yeah? If you wanna buy something strange and illegal, this is certainly the place to do it! Follow me, through the hall of Pandoran Luminaries!”

Looks like there was no way of avoiding the tour. Rhys and Vaughn looked at each other, both a bit unsure. Shade was walking ahead of them, pointing at some parts of his exhibition now and then. There were skulls of big Pandoran beasts, taxidermied smaller animals in strange poses, some sitting on chairs like humans would. The place was creepy. Shade turned to look at them, while walking backwards.

“My grandpappy, he’s the one who came up with this place. He was a real thinker, you know, a real lover of animals! Together we created a place where anyone could find at least one thing interesting! A place for everyone! And I know just the things that you’ll find interesting. Come!” He took a sharp right turn to the hall of Pandoran Luminaries. He even had it written over the door with neon.

“I think you forgot why we’re here…” Rhys pointed out and Shade shook his head.

“No, no! August is right through that door in the back, but let me show you these! The crown jewel of my collection, it’ll only take a minute.” He disappeared for a moment, only to come back with two trolleys, on which two figures were standing, covered by a thick fabric.

“No, sorry, we’re in hurry.” Vaughn said and began to walk through the hall towards the door.

“For you, mister with suitcase, I have the Solo of Science, Hyperion’s professor Nakayama!” He called out and revealed one of the figures. Vaughn gasped. There he was, tall and scrawny, flexing his muscles with an arrogant expression on his face. Impaled on a wooden stick.

“Formerly a scientific researcher, professor Nakayama was obsessed with cloning Handsome Jack, who he carried a certain fondness for. You two look a bit alike, with the beard and all, heh heh.” Vaughn was frozen. That was not a wax figure, he could tell that from how Nakayama’s skin was crumbling at his ears. That was a real dead person filled with sawdust and who knows what else. Shade took Vaughn’s shock as interest.

“Oh, I see you like him! I knew it! Here, take this.” He stuck his wiry hand into Nakayama’s lab coat pocket and pulled out his ID drive. He walked over to Vaughn and pushed it into his hand with a wink. Vaughn finally turned around to look at Rhys.

“God, oh god, could we get over with this?” He whispered.

“If you find something interesting on it, just let me know! And ooh, don’t think I forgot about you, my giraffe-looking friend! I believe you will appreciate what I have to offer.” Rhys frowned. He…he didn’t look like a giraffe! He’s had enough of this place. He grabbed Vaughn, determined to ignore whatever Shade had to say. He picked up the pace, aiming for the door.

“Otherworldly beautiful, shockingly powerful, the once ruthless leader of the Crimson Lance, Commandant Steele!” Shade hollered and they heard the fabric being pulled away. Rhys ignored him, walking swiftly to the door.

“Her leader-ness came to an untimely end when she was skewered by a monstrous tentacle. She later died a second time after having been resurrected as some kind of cyborg zombie thing, probably to be used for her powers.”

“Sorry, I’m not interested.” Rhys said, stretching his hand towards the handle.

“She was a Siren too …” Shade mused. Rhys’s hand stopped.

How could he… how did he…?

Or did he say it, meaning that atop of all those other things she was also a Siren? He heard the wheels of the trolley rumbling as Shade pushed it closer to them, stopping few feet away from Rhys. He swallowed. Should he turn around? There are other, more important things to do. But this would only take a moment. He’s never seen another Siren in his life and the possibility of seeing one made all his tattoos tingle. Vaughn was looking at him in confusion. Why did the fact that she was a “siren” make Rhys stop in his tracks? Sirens weren’t real, they were just a myth, a story for children. No one could live in space, or fly.

 Rhys took a deep breath, let go of Vaughn’s shoulder and turned around. But he sure wasn’t ready for that sight.

Steele’s face really was beautiful, her skin pale, seeming somewhat fresh even in death, making the tattoos on her side stand out even more. Hers were the same shade of dark blue as his. She was even built like him, naturally skinny and tall. He felt his heart beating faster. He would reach out his hand and touch her to see if she was even real, if it wasn’t for the grim state she was in. That was what truly what took his breath away in terror. Impaled on a wooden stick to stand upright. A gaping hole in her stomach rimmed with metal. Half of her head had been sawed off and replaced with a tall glass dome in which her brain sat, swimming in some gross-colored liquid. He felt the hair on his neck standing. Resurrected to be used for her powers. Now he understood. There wasn’t a piece of her left untouched, whoever did that took everything from her, stripped her from her humanity and dignity. It angered Rhys, but also made him afraid. Could something like that happen to him? He pictured himself on her place and it made him feel sick. No, he couldn’t look at Steele anymore. He closed his eyes and turned his head away.

“Rhys?” Vaughn asked worriedly. Rhys looked unusually pale, the fingers on his flesh hand trembling. This place was really taking a toll on them. Vaughn stole a glance at Steele. Ugh. She was really in a bad state. She even looked sad. His eyes stopped at the dark blue marks on her skin. Just regular tattoos. That was about it, when it came weirdness, of course not mentioning all the tech wear she had strapped onto her. Then why was she making Rhys so uncomfortable? His hand was trembling and his eyes were closed. The collar of his shirt was still standing upright, but the top of the…whatever was there on his skin…was peeking out.

 Wait…

He looked at Steele’s marks. Then back at Rhys’s neck and then back at Steele’s marks. And then at Rhys’s neck. And then at Steele’s marks. No. Why would they look the same? What was the meaning of it? What…

Rhys suddenly opened his eyes. He wordlessly turned around, opened the door behind them and stepped out into the backyard.

“Vaughn, you coming?” He asked. Vaughn was in the doorway, looking at him with wide eyes.

“R-Rhys…what…why…?” Vaughn stammered, pointing at the dead Siren. Rhys’s lips turned into a tight line.

“Not now Vaughn. Please.” Vaughn looked at him for a long while, then sighed and came closer to him, pulling Rhys’s collar higher so it covered more of his mark. It made Rhys’s heart clench.

“What happened? You got stuck in traffic?” It was August. He really wasn’t in a good mood.”You Hyperion guys are usually so punctual. Gettin’ ten million dollars can’t be too much trouble for you guys.” Rhys really wanted to tell him about the bandits, how they nearly died a few times that day and how it was actually hard to get there. But he’s had enough of fights for today.

“Sorry we’re late. We didn’t mean it.”

“Aaalright, well…I’ll just leave you to your business things then, heh!” Shade announced and then pointed a finger at Rhys.  “And you, my tall friend, I am VERY interested in keeping your body after you…hm…die a horrible death. So after you close this deal, could you sign a few papers for me? So we can avoid all the grave-robbing activities, as pleasant as they might be.”

Ugh, ewww…


	6. Chapter 6

Rhys could picture a lot of ways how the deal could’ve gone better, Vaughn could as well. August could’ve been more pleasant, his girlfriend too. She didn’t have to wave her gun around all the time. She also didn’t have to make such a fuss because they were Hyperion, it’s not like everyone up there is a soulless asshole. They also seemed to completely forget that the deal would set them up for life. Ten million could be chump change in the accounting world, but definitely not for Pandorans. It was enough to buy them half of the goddamn planet!

Also, they Key could’ve been real…just saying…that would’ve been golden.

Rhys hadn’t felt a thing from it, any pull, no aura or…whatever he could feel. He had thought that either he was a good-for-nothing Siren, or it was a good-for-nothing Key. That’s why he’d wanted to scan it. But for some reason his prosthetics ran into a malfunction just as he was holding the Key, getting ready to scan it. His hand fell to his side, limp and lifeless and the Key fell in the very same manner. He wanted to catch it, he really did, but there was no help. It broke into pieces. On the other hand, the fall had exposed the wires, circuits and diodes to them all. Rhys was pissed. Vaughn twice as much. He grabbed the money from the table, showing them all that the deal was OVER! That’s when a hoard of Psychos broke in, lead by some weird, extremely buff guy with a helmet on his face, claiming to be called BOSSANOVA. Not Bossanova, no, it had to be BOSSANOVA. A lot of things was happening at the same time, one worse than the other.

Now they were running away. Rhys’s broken arm was flailing from side to side, throwing him off balance constantly. The fact that he was currently blind on one eye wasn’t helping as well. He was tripping on stones he failed to see, the world seemed incoherent and flat to him. At some point Vaughn caught him and since then they ran together, Vaughn propping Rhys up. Gunshots were cracking up the air, then there were BOSSANOVA’s subwoofers and yelling of the Psychos. They needed some place to hide. Vasquez’s car was out, it got destroyed in the fight with bandits. They could run into some of the houses, but there was another option. A neat caravan was parked nearby, door opened. Now who the hell leaves a door opened here, in a place like this? It could’ve been a good point, but they had no time to ponder. They ran inside, slamming the door behind them. Vaughn went immediately to the steering wheel.

“Stay at the door and watch if someone’s coming! I’ll try to start this, we have to get out and call Yvette.”

“At least we still got the money.” Rhys said, seeing the briefcase still securely chained to Vaughn’s wrist. He leaned himself onto the caravan door, looking through the small window. He could see the backyard, Psychos running around and in the middle of everything August holding a gun, pointing it at his girlfriend. Wow. He wouldn’t call that a relationship goal. He turned to look at Vaughn. He was still helplessly tapping around the front desk. There seemed to be all kinds of displays and buttons on it, but ignition? Naaah, that’s for losers. He would scan it with his ECHOeye, but it still wasn’t working. He hadn’t felt this helpless ever since he lost his real hand and eye. He bit his lip. Better not to think of it. He looked outside the window again and noticed people running towards the caravan.

Shit.

“Vaughn! There’s people coming!”

“Wait, I think I got it!” Vaughn pushed a button, but nothing happened.

“Vaughn!” There was a closet in the back of the caravan. A rather narrow one, but in desperate times… Rhys ran to it as swiftly as he could and opened the door. Thankfully it had no shelves, only a bar to hang jackets on. They could fit in there. He was one foot inside it when he noticed that Vaughn was still meddling with the dashboard.

“Vaughn, they’re here! Come in and hide!” He urged, maybe a bit too loud. Vaughn finally gave up and ran across the caravan. They closed the door behind them just in time the caravan door opened. They were squeezed tightly inside the closet, trying to be as quiet as possible, but at the same time to reach the best position for them both. Vaughn’s face was pressed against Rhys’s chest, Rhys’s chin was in Vaughn’s hair and their legs were crossed. There were a lot of clothes thrown on the closet floor, what made it slippery. A small ray of light came through a crack between the doors.

“Easy now, easy.” They recognized the voice of August’s girlfriend. Was this her caravan?

“Sasha! I’m fine! Thanks, but I’m fine!” A man’s voice this time, but it wasn’t August. They got into their line of sight. Sasha was propping up a skinny balding man, taking him directly to the dashboard. They heard a thump from their left.

“HEY! WE’RE NOT DONE HERE!” This time it was August. And he didn’t sound very pleased.

“Fiona! The door!” The old man yelled from the front.

“I don’t like it when people lie to me Sasha! You should never, ever lie to me!” The door was creaking and then it slammed shut. Gunshots were heard from outside.

“Just drive!” Woman’s voice this time. They figured it must have been the Fiona girl.

“Where?”

“Away from here!” The man pushed some buttons and the engine came to life.

“Multiple buttons? That’s not practical at all.” Vaughn whispered. Rhys could only agree. They got thrown against the back of the closet as the caravan shot forward with a mighty roar. Rhys’s heart was racing and he could feel Vaughn’s against his stomach. They were going away. Away from that creepy museum, away from August and Psychos. Finally. But they were hiding in a closet, in caravan belonging to complete strangers, going God knows where. The only thing they had was each other. They better cling to one another with everything they have. Rhys put his hand around Vaughn’s shoulders and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. So what? To hell with holding back, look where it got him. If he had burned through Vasquez’s skull right in his office all this wouldn’t have happened. Vaughn looked up at him, his face unreadable in the closet’s darkness, but Rhys knew he wasn’t mad. They huddled closer.

“So…that went well…” Sasha said grimly, resting herself somewhere out of their sight with a sigh.

“Ten million. Gone. Right from under our noses.” Fiona sat on a comforter and threw her head in her hands. “I just hope that August guy of yours won’t seek revenge.” Sasha sputtered at this.

“Oh I should be the one seeking revenge! Officially the worst two months of my life. I’m never doing this again!”

“Girls, girls.” The man said with a calming, but stern voice. “Just tell me where it went wrong?” Sasha’s gun clattered against the floor.

“I…I didn’t notice the tall Hyperion jackass had a mechanical arm as well. I mean, I saw it, I knew what it was, but I was too… busy of thinking about his freaking eye to make a connection. The electromagnetic pulse was a great idea. It’s me who blew it.” Electromagnetic pulse? So that’s why Rhys’s prosthetics weren’t working! They deliberately killed them!

“I’m so goddamn pissed! We’ve all put so much effort into this, and in a blink of an eye it’s just…gone.”

“Sis…”

“Don’t  ‘sis’ me, Fiona. Just…leave me alone, please.” There was a while of silence.

“Sasha. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” It was the man.

“How could I not? I mean it’s clearly-“

“I’m not going to disprove what you just said. I’m just telling you, that things like this happen to people like us. We were prepared for certain circumstances, but in the end, they changed. That’s what happens in life. I don’t know how I would deal with a situation like that, were I in your place. Sure it’s gonna hurt for some time, but we’ve done the most we could. It just didn’t work out.” There was another while of silence. Rhys shifted his weight. His shoulder was killing him. He had no idea that carrying the prosthetic while it was disabled would hurt so much.

“And we can strike a bargain like that sometime again! With some other company. I bet some rival of Hyperion’s will gladly take the offer.”

“If Hyperion didn’t kill them off already.” Fiona sneered.

“We’ll see.”

“Felix, are you sure you don’t want me to take a look at your back?” Fiona asked with concern.

“No, I told you I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

“A scratch that’s bleeding rather profusely. You got **shot** , Felix, it doesn’t matter the bullet didn’t go in. You should at least get it cleaned out.” Felix sighed.

“Allright, but we should drive a bit more. The Psychos and BOSSANOVA could still be around.”

“Yeah, those guys were the last drop. The deal couldn’t have gone worse…” She stood up and looked around. A frown appeared on her face.

“There’s so much blood around here! I’m getting the first aid kit and patching you up, whether you like it or not. At least to stop the bleeding.” She went away from their sight. They heard plastic bags rustle and watched as she cleaned out Felix’s wound with alcohol while he was driving. He didn’t even flinch. That guy had some balls. Rhys was leaning heavily on the wall. He needed to get his arm off right NOW. He felt warm sweat running down his chest. He shuffled around, sighing.

“Rhys, what are you doing?” Vaughn asked, barely audible.

“I need to get my arm off, it hurts a lot.” He whispered back and twisted his chest. He couldn’t find the clips for his life, the closet was too dark. He reached even further, tilting his pelvis in the process.

“Rhys, stop wiggling around, you’re…” Vaughn pleaded worriedly. “You’re making it worse.”

“What am I making wor-” there was something rather hard pressed against his thigh. Rhys felt blush in his cheeks. “Vaughn…do you have a stiffy right now?”

“Rhys I’m so sorry.”

“ _How_ can you have a stiffy right now? We’re in a life threatening situation here-“

“That’s exactly why I’m having a- do you _really_ call it stiffy, man what are you, in a third grade or something?”

“So getting shot at makes you hard, huh?”

 _“No,_ it’s just…there are all these things going on and…this is a very tight space and…you’re so _close…_ ” The caravan ran over a stone and it didn’t help Vaughn at all. Rhys covered Vaughn’s mouth with his hand, stifling his moan. He’s not gonna lie, though, that went all the way down to Rhys junior. Rhys’s mouth fell open. This was…interesting. His hand on…Vaughn’s mouth…Perhaps if he- if he _leaned in…_ just a little bit. His heart was beating like crazy. All the things that were happening, the rush of pure adrenaline, Vaughn’s closeness…yet again Rhys felt the same kind of pull as he felt when they landed on Pandora. That he could, and in fact gladly would, kiss Vaughn right now.

They suddenly grew aware of a soft blue glow coming from Rhys’s hand. Vaughn’s eyes widened, the whites gleaming in the light. Rhys got dragged down back to the ground  and drew his hand away from Vaughn’s mouth. The tattoos were shining through his sleeve, but still dimmed.

“Dude, it’s your entire hand.” Vaughn hissed. The only places that shone brightly were Rhys’s neck and the tear on his sleeve. Vaughn was mesmerized. That was so pretty…and…kinda hot.

“I know, I know. Now you’ve got a light, help me get my arm off. _Please_.” Rhys meant it. The shoulder was getting worse. He never knew he could hurt that much. He had to restrain himself from moaning out of pain.

“Sure.” Vaughn patted around Rhys’s shoulder carefully, trying to find the metal clips.

“Jesus Rhys, you’re so wet.” He complained. His fingers were slippery from Rhys’s warm sweat. Gross. He struggled with the clips as Rhys whimpered quietly in pain. Soon they heard three quiet satisfying clicks and the arm came off, staying in Vaughn’s hand. But instead of relief Rhys felt the sharpest pain.

“fUCK!” He yelled, his voice full of pain. Vaughn tried to cover his mouth but it was too late. There was a quiet squirt and he felt a warm liquid on his face. He looked at his wet hands. That wasn’t sweat. The door to the closet opened sharply, letting in a flood of light. Vaughn’s hands were covered with Rhys’s blood.


	7. Chapter 7

“Let go you asshole! You don’t get to bleed all over my favorite jacket and survive!”

Holding onto a doorframe of a speeding caravan with only one hand, while being pushed out of it by a crazy chick was harder then it looked. Rhys was holding on with all his might, his hand gripping the doorframe in a powerful spasm. His own strength surprised him, but he knew it would soon leave him. After all, the gunshot wound in his shoulder was still bleeding, making him weaker and weaker. After Vaughn removed the hand, all the compressed tissues that were held down by its weight got loose, making Rhys bleed and hurt even more.

“My God, Sasha, get on with it! I can’t stand his yelling. How is he so loud?” Fiona dragged, while pointing a gun at Vaughn. Sasha pushed again and Rhys’s feet shuffled forward, closer to the fall.

“Maybe we should shoot them first!”

“Nah, save the bullet. The fall will definitely kill them.”

“Allright. Will you stop screaming and die??!” Rhys’s hand clenched around the door with even more strength. He had an idea. A desperate one. She wanted him to stop screaming? Well too bad. If there’s one thing he knew how to do, it was using his voice. He could scream louder! And longer! He could scream all day and all night! His voice had no limits, he’d like to see them deal with that. She’ll eventually cover her ears instinctively and that will be the time when he’ll get back inside the caravan. He felt the air resonating mightily in his sinuses, sending pleasant vibrations through his body. He found it easy to enjoy the sensation. BOSSANOVA would sure be proud of him.

“Let him back in, Sasha!” It was Felix.

“Why?” She yelled back.

“Just do as I say!” Eventually she grabbed Rhys by the back of his vest and pulled him in, closing the door behind him. Rhys was relieved. He slumped against the closed door, holding down his wound so the bleeding would stop. He locked eyes with Vaughn, who was pale as sheet, face holding a painful grimace as he was very positive that he had just lost at least 50% of his hearing. But he was glad to see Rhys back inside the caravan. Sure, there were more and more questions coming up that he’d like Rhys to answer. What were those tattoos? Why were they _so_ similar to those they saw on Steele’s body? How the actual fuck could he scream so loud it made the whole caravan tremble?

Of course, there was one explanation…

But Vaughn, being the Mayor Skeptic of the Skeptic town, refused to believe it. And he didn’t like the fact that _that_ explanation was still making more and more sense. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

The caravan slowed down and that made their hearts clench. Why were they stopping? Rhys looked out the front window. They were approaching a huge sandstone formation with lots of little caves and cracks in it. Felix took one hand off the steering wheel and reached under the dashboard, pulling out a gun. That…that didn’t look good. Oh god…Will they get shot and shoved into one of those caves? Was this like…a burial ground where conmen dump bodies? Is this where it ends? Rhys and Vaughn looked at the girls, they seemed a bit unsure. They didn’t know what was happening either. That calmed them down a bit. Felix stopped the caravan right next to the rocks, turned the engine off and walked over to Rhys, pointing the gun at him. Rhys couldn’t look away from the barrel. It got closer and closer and Rhys’s breathing was getting faster and faster, until he felt its cold touch on his left cheek. He began to shiver violently. This was _bad_. He was bleeding, only had one arm and one eye and no chance of getting on top of this situation. The gun was too close, even if he tried to do something, Felix’s finger on the trigger would be faster. To hell with the promotion, to hell with Henderson and Vasquez. To hell with whole Hyperion and this goddamn planet.  Rhys closed his eyes.

“D-don’t hurt him!” It was Vaughn. The way he said it broke Rhys’s heart. Vaughn cared so _much_. He has to make it out alive, so they can spend more time together. “I’ll give you the money, all of it, just don’t hurt him” Felix didn’t turn away from Rhys.

“I’m not going to.” Rhys’s eyes opened and the fear subsided a bit.

“No? Because it _really_ looks like you’re going to.” Felix shook his head. “Well, that’s a relief. So, could you, like, put the gu-aah, ah, okay, okay…“ Felix pressed the barrel to Rhys’s cheek even harder, causing his head to turn to side, exposing his neck. Something he saw there made him smile. _Shit._ Felix crouched in front of Rhys, dragging the barrel of the gun from his cheek to his collarbone, where he used it to push the collar of Rhys’s shirt away, revealing more of his tattoos. His smile grew even bigger.

“What did you say your name was?”

“It’s-It’s Rhys.” Rhys couldn’t stand to look at Felix’s face. The victorious grin he had was sickening to him. He thought something like this wouldn’t happen to him _again_.

“Oh, I knew it. From the way you walk and talk, to the way you look, it should’ve been clear to me from the beginning. Girls, this is our lucky day,” he said. Sasha and Fiona turned to look at what he had found and then gasped. Vaughn stretched his head. He wanted to know what was happening, he wanted to _see_. “Not only do we have ten million dollars on us…we also found a Siren.” Vaugn’s jaw dropped. No. Way.

Rhys’s eyes were closed again. He wished with all his heart that his all was just a bad dream, a nightmare forged from his past and his fears. This was all just too similar. But the grip of Felix’s hand in his hair was very real. All his strength left him.

“And you’re going to find a Vault for us, aren’t you?”


	8. Chapter 8

Vaughn was looking at Rhys from across the room warily. Finally the Pandorans moved so he could see him clearly. Rhys looked devastated. Beaten. Broken. He has never seen him so down. It was a scary image. Torn dirty clothes, one hand missing, ECHOeye rolled back into his head, so it appeared blank and there was blood spilled all over him, staining his skin and crawling behind his nails, as he was absently applying pressure on his wound. But his face was the most haunting. Even his real eye seemed lifeless. His gaze was fixed onto something Vaughn couldn’t see, holding a sour, defeated expression. His Siren marks were blinking slowly with dim light. Vaughn didn’t understand. Rhys…Rhys was the strongest person he knew. He always knew what to do. He always had an alternative, always came up with something when things were going south. He was ready to give Vaughn a push whenever he needed it. He was a cheerful guy, a goofball who had lunch with him every day, ever since higschool.  And now he was there, slumped against the caravan door like a doll thrown into the corner. It made Vaughn physically hurt to see him like that. And to know he couldn’t do anything about it.

Fiona poked him with the tip of her shoe.

“What’s wrong with him? He looks brain-dead to me.” Rhys flinched a bit, but other than that, there was no response from him. Sasha leaned down to him and snapped her fingers in front of his eyes.

“Hey! Birdbrains! Wake up!” Nothing. “I dunno, Fi, maybe it’s the blood loss. I guess we should patch him up as well. Dead Siren won’t find us anything.”

“Don’t bother,” Felix said, “they regenerate quickly. He’ll be fine in no time. The bleeding is already dying down, save the thread and bandages.” He lifted Rhys’s sleeve to look at his flickering tattoos. Rhys’s lips trembled. Felix noticed, continued to view them and finally touched them with his thumb.

“What was that you said?” Rhys’s fingers compressing the wound shivered and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.  

“Don’t” Rhys whispered softly, with a broken voice. Vaughn wanted to scream. If only he could...If there was a way… Rhys’s eye shifted and looked directly at Vaughn. His expression might have been blank, but Vaughn knew there was more to it. He felt like Rhys was calling out for help. It made him grow more aware of how many possibilities he had in that moment. There was nothing holding him down on that couch, nothing but his fear. And Rhys needed him. There was a way to help him, to do something. Vaughn rose from the couch. His knees were weak and his breaths were short, but he had to do it. They had to stop. Two guns pointed at him, Sasha’s and Felix’s. Vaughn’s mouth went dry.

“Sit back down!” Sasha dragged but Vaughn shook his head. He stopped in his tracks, but he wasn’t going back.

“Sit down or I’ll put a bullet through your head and throw you out of the caravan!”

“I wouldn’t do that if you want the money. You need my biometrics to open that case.” Felix smirked.

“I’ll open it as soon as I get my hands onto it. I’ve bypassed many biometrical locks before, this won’t be any different. Now sit. Back. Down.”

“BUT you can’t defuse the bomb synced to my bio-signature.”

“A BOMB?! There’s a bomb in that case?!” Fiona gasped, eyes wide.

“Yes. And it goes off in the moment my heart stops beating. Or if I get too far from it.” Vaughn said, swinging the case in his hand lightly. Sasha squinted at him.

“You’re bluffing.” She said as her gun rose even higher. Vaughn bit his lip. He was getting sick of being pointed at with a gun.

“I know why you would think that…buuut I don’t think it’s a risk you want to take.” There was a while of silence. “Just…let me through, so I can take care of my best friend.” Vaughn said patiently, but as sternly as he could. He was stressed, sweat was running down his back, but he stood there like he was made of stone. The girls looked at Felix. He lowered his gun.

“Allright, but no stupid ideas. Sasha, keep an eye on them while I drive. Fiona, come with me to the dashboard. And you,” he pointed at Vaughn, “get him back to normal so he can be worked with. He’s no good to us like this.” He commanded and then walked over to the steering wheel with Fiona right behind him. Sasha’s eyes didn’t leave Vaughn as he walked over to Rhys and kneeled beside him. He was a mess. Vaughn didn’t know where to start with his new assignment. He swallowed and leaned over Rhys, taking the hem of his vest into his hands and pulling it over Rhys’s empty shoulder socket to take a better look at his wound. Gah, so much blood. The smell of it made him queasy. But Felix was right, the bleeding wasn’t nearly as heavy as it was before. Vaughn clenched his teeth. Did it really stop because Rhys was a…a…that thing? Heh, perhaps Rhys…had abnormally efficient clotting factors in his blood? Eh? Vaughn was sure that was a legit thing, he must have heard about it somewhere. Maybe this all was just a misunderstanding, it’ll be explained soon and they’ll be free to go. Right?

But…If it was a misunderstanding Rhys would’ve surely said something. He wouldn’t be sitting there, looking all defeated and broken, looking like…like…

Like someone revealed his deepest secret.

Shit.

Plus there were other things, the glowing hand, Rhys’s unusually strong, eardrum-tearing voice…It must be true then. Vaughn still found it hard to believe. His eyes travelled from the wound, across Rhys’s chest, to little over his sternum, where dark blue lines were visible, occasionally blinking. So, Rhys is a Siren. A Siren. Okay, okay…cool. W-what did that mean exactly? Was he, like, an alien? Or a…creature? A derivation of human?? Should he then talk to him differently? Does he have, like, special needs? Vaughn was sure he heard somewhere that Sirens were immortal, so they could cover great distances in space without dying halfway through the process. He often thought about that, being immortal and seeing everything from the greater perspective, but…now he felt cold. He felt so small, so insignificant, compared to Rhys. If it was true, if Rhys really was a…space walking, long living…thing…was everything they did together just a play-pretend from Rhys’s side? Was it just a game to pass his time, to make his long-ass life a bit more interesting for a little while? Because, hell, if it was…They were joined by the hip ever since from highschool! Vaughn _really_ trusted him, considered him as his best friend and…and…

There was a hand, a warm one, gripping Vaughn’s. He looked up from the tattoos to see Rhys’s face.

 No.

Vaughn realized that every single one of those thoughts that had crossed his mind was wrong. There was Rhys, _his_ Rhys looking at him, undeniably human and genuine. He played no games. His grip on Vaughn’s hand became more urgent.

“Vaughn I can’t do what he wants me to do...” Rhys whispered, while shaking his head slightly.

“You can’t do what? Find a Vault?”

“Yes. Well, I mean, I’m able to, but I just…can’t. I _won’t_.” He spat those words like they had an awful, bitter taste.

“I don’t know if we have a choice here, Rhys.” Vaughn said carefully, “I-I mean, look at them! They were ready to kill us both, we’re alive just because they need us. Temporarily. Hell, I think they’re going to shoot me as soon as they get the money. Or push me out of a caravan. Or throw me to a pit filled with hungry skags, oooh my god I made myself scared…” He closed his eyes and swallowed “My point is, we should try to cooperate-“ Rhys shook his head abruptly, the tattoos going brighter. Vaughn felt a wave of heat from his direction.

“No, no, no, no, I can’t, Vaughn, I can’t not again, _not again._ ” He pleaded with hushed voice. The palm with which he was holding Vaughn hand was getting hotter and hotter. Vaughn began to panic. What was happening? What did he mean, when he said he couldn’t do it _again_? Why was Rhys freaking out so much?? He looked at his pale, sickly face and noticed a change. His normal eye looked different, like there was light coming from inside of it, bright blue. _Shit, shit shit…_

What Vaughn did was stupid. Inconsiderate. He didn’t know what was happening to Rhys. He had _no fucking clue_ if touching him would be a good idea. He should’ve sticked to a more diplomatic approach. But instead, he took Rhys’s head into his hands and pressed their foreheads together.

“HEY! What are you two doing?!” Sasha barked, but Vaughn paid her no attention. He spoke fast, using the little time they had until she came.

“Rhys, listen, we can do this. If we find a Vault or something like that, we can go back to Hyperion-“ Sasha grabbed him by his collar and pulled him away from Rhys.

“What do you think you’re doing? Stay away from him!” Vaughn looked at Rhys. He didn’t seem as panicked as he did before. That was a good sign. It worked for Vaughn’s plan.

“What do _I_ think I’m doing? I’m patching him up, calming him down! I have to stay close to him or he’ll freak out and send us all to the fiery pits of hell! Just look at him!” He said and pointed at Rhys. Sasha looked over and felt shivers running down her spine. The tall guy had his knees under his chin, slowly rocking back and forth, his tattoos flickering like a broken display. With one eye blank and the other one glowing, he looked really unstable. Sasha immediately filed that picture among the top ten scariest things she’s ever seen. She let go of Vaughn.

“Okay. Keep on doing what…you were doing.” She blurted out quickly. “Geez you guys are weird.” She then muttered and Vaughn sat himself next to Rhys again. He took his hand again and leaned in closer.

“Nice one, buddy.” He praised him with a hidden smile. Rhys really made a great show, still breathing heavily, but letting the glow in his hand subside. Vaughn was stroking it carefully, to make Sasha think he really was calming him down.

“So…you were saying we should do this because?” Rhys panted quietly. Vaughn felt a pang of guilt and doubt. Maybe what Rhys had showed them just now wasn’t all an act. His strokes slowed down, really trying to comfort him.

“I was saying, that if we find anything even remotely connected to a Vault we could still go back to Hyperion and get that goddamn promotion. That’s why we came here in the first place. And we still have the money we “borrowed”. There’s still a chance for things to get better, that Hyperion will take us back.” But Rhys wasn’t as excited as Vaughn was. But at least he was calmer now.

“And what about them? They sure won’t let us run away with…whatever we find.”

“Yeah, you’re right…we could, like…steal it from them…somehow?”

“They are the conmasters here.”

“I know…I’m just…trying to come up with a plan here.” Vaughn felt weird. Rhys was usually the one to come up with stupid risky plans. Vaughn was mostly the one who followed them. And yet, here they are… It was definitely doing wonders to Vaughn’s confidence, though.

“Perhaps Yvette could somehow help us with it. She could send us-“

“Dude.” Rhys interrupted him, “There’s still a Loaderbot down here.” He whispered with wide eyes. Vaughn facepalmed.

“Crap, how did we forget? That’s awesome! Oh, god…That’s like the best news today.” He had to hold back, because he really wanted to throw himself onto Rhys and kiss his cheeks like a gazillion times. That would, of course, look weird to Sasha so...no kissing. Sad face.

“We should call him right now. We can look for it on our own.” Rhys whispered, looking for his mechanical hand. Vaughn wasn’t so sure. After all, Sasha, Felix and Fiona were home here. They knew the planet and the people. Maybe they should stick to them until the very end when they…stab them in the back. Kind of. Sorta…yeah…that’s a dick move. But, they shouldn’t have tried to con them in the first place. And trying to kill them, that just adds to the stack. He told Rhys, but he wasn’t happy about it. He knew Vaughn was right, he eventually agreed to his plan, but he definitely didn’t want to spend any more time with _them_. He thought he’d never have to look for artifacts ever again. He hated thinking of it. He hated the Pandorans for making him do it. But when he knew Vaughn would be with him all the way, it made the thought much more bearable. Pleasant, even. He won’t be alone. And he knew Vaughn would stick with him until the very end. Because if those three scumbags try anything, _anything…_

…he’ll make their lives a **_fucking nightmare_**.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I liiive :D The last months were hard but I managed to write on! Enjoy ^.^

 

The caravan stopped at nightfall and parked next to another rock formation and some billboard. Out came Sasha with her gun, promising to find them something for dinner. After her a very pale Rhys slowly walked out and sat himself on the stairs. Vaughn got held up inside. Fiona made him give up the suitcase and he, albeit very reluctantly, obeyed, mostly persuaded by her gun, than her charm. He then turned around and checked Rhys. He looked exhausted. He couldn’t sit straight so he just slomped against the doorframe and began to breathe rapidly. Vaughn hurried and sat right next to him, not minding the bloodied steps. Rhys wasn’t good at all, he needed help, but Vaughn didn’t know what to do. He was no doctor after all. Sure, he attended some kind of a first aid course when he was doing his driver’s license, but he was pretty sure that every instruction there ended with: call an ambulance ASAP. What….wasn’t really possible right now, was it? There must be something he can do. Anything. He grabbed Rhys’s arm and the fabric of his shirt stuck to his cold sweat. Rhys’s eyes closed and Vaughn shook him to keep him awake.  

“No, Vaughn, just let me rest…” Rhys sounded out of breath.

“No, no, dude, don’t fall asleep. What if you won’t wake up? We should…I should..” Vaughn began to look around. Perhaps there was a first aid kit around? But then Rhys touched Vaughn’s arm and made him stop.

“Vaughn I’m fine just…a bit dizzy.” Then Fiona appeared behind them.

“Lay him down and lift his legs if you want to help him so much. Don’t give him anything to drink. And for god’s sake, make room! The stairs ain’t yours.” She said angrily and then lightly kicked Vaughn’s back in order to get him moving. Then she stormed past them, muttering about stupid Hyperions stealing everything. But Vaughn noticed her looking back every now and then, checking them. Grumpy on the outside, but a softie on the inside, Vaughn thought. She kind of reminded him of Yvette. In the meantime Rhys climbed up the stairs and lied down with a grunt. Vaughn was next to him in a second, lifting his long legs on his shoulders.

“Does it feel good?”

“Ughh…thinking…hurts…”

“Doesn’t it always…” Vaughn muttered and held Rhys’s legs in place. Rhys felt his blood rushing from his legs back into his head and wanted to thank Vaughn, but all he managed was a huff and a quiet moan. Vaughn bit his lip. It felt quite good actually, to hold Rhys like that. To see him sprawled like that. If only it wasn’t because Rhys felt dizzy. Vaughn was shamelessly observing him. His cheeks thankfully regained a bit of color, his face glistened with cold sweat and his breath was more regular. From time to time a small grunt came out, not really helping Vaugh. He felt half sorry for the state Rhys was in and half…err. Better not to think of it. But he was sure he wanted to see Rhys like that again.

“Vaughn, just close your mouth or you’ll drool over yourself.” Rhys panted with a trace of grin. Vaughn nearly dropped his legs.

“Wha-no, I wasn’t-“ Vaughn was squeezing Rhys’s ankles nervously, as he looked for an explanation. But there was no need for it. At least that’s what Rhys said.

“I kind of like this too.” He added with something in between a blink and a wink.

Can people get high on blood loss? Because this sure looked like it. Maybe Sirens can.

Half an hour later Rhys felt better, so he sat up. Vaughn was glad, his shoulders were really achy after propping Rhys for that much time. They sat on the stairs again, Vaughn began to meddle with Rhys’s broken mech arm and Rhys watched him. But soon they got disturbed by a quiet “aehm” from behind them. Vaughn turned around much more quickly than Rhys. There was Felix. Rhys fixed his eye on him tiredly.

“Listen to me. When Sasha comes back it will be the time for you to start navigating towards the Vault.” Rhys nodded weakly, almost invisibly.

“You’ll be sitting next to me in front. No funny business or-is he listening to me?” Felix pointed at Rhys who had one eye closed and the other half-lidded.

“Uhm…I’m not sure. Rhys? Are you here with us?” There was the faintest nod, but not a sound from Rhys. Vaughn noticed the mark on his neck flickered with blue light. It made him shiver. Rhys didn’t understand. He felt fine just a second ago and suddenly he couldn’t even speak. Raising a hand seemed impossible. But if he were to direct his attention to his inside, he would surely feel the strange buildup of energy, that was coiling and condensing inside his torso.

“I’m sure he’s listening, but that’s pretty much it, I’d say. Honestly I don’t know how he’d be able to navigate you right now.” Vaughn said. He thought Rhys was just buying them some time, even though he didn’t see any reason why. But Rhys sure had some plan. “I think it is in your best interest to-“

“You don’t get to tell me what’s in my best interest, Hyperion boy. He’ll have to wake the hell up, ‘cause I want to go right now. And I think **I am** the one who’s to decide.” Felix wasn’t yelling.  His voice was calm, but boy was it stern. Vaughn understood that he won’t win over him with dominance. He’ll have to try something else.

“T-that you surely are. But you have to admit that right now Rhys is in no condition to help you. He can barely sit straight. We already accepted to show you the way. We won’t budge. I’m only asking you for a few hours of rest for him. Please.” Felix frowned and looked at the Siren slumped against the doorframe. He had to admit that he looked terrible, with one arm missing, blood soaked clothes, pale sweaty face and a brain-dead expression he looked just a step away from breaking. Maybe they went too hard on him. He sighed.

“Fine…You have time until dawn. We’ll spend the night here.” Rhys wanted to thank him, but he found himself unable to do so. His voicebox refused to listen to him. The only thing it would give out, was quiet hum.

“Thank you.” Vaughn said instead. Then Felix went around them and stepped outside the caravan. He made few steps, only to come back to them and reach for the mechanical hand Vaughn had on his lap.

“I can fix it in the meantime, if you want me to.” Vaughn clenched the metal hand and looked at Rhys if he would approve. He himself didn’t feel like trusting Felix would be a good choice, but apparently Rhys took it as a first step towards partnership, since he nodded weakly. Vaughn handed Felix the arm and let him pass through to the inside of the caravan. He put a hand on Rhys’s knee. He understood that right now he’ll have to keep up that brain-dead act of his, since Felix is so close to them and he wanted Rhys to know that he won’t leave him. With his hand on Rhys’s knee he looked up to the sky. Seeing Helios hovering miles above them made him think about what could possibly have been happening in there. Since the conmasters blew Rhys’s prosthetics (thanks a lot assholes) they lost their way to communicate with Hyperion. He wondered how many missed calls they had from Yvette…or from someone else. He had to admit, this whole deal had gone _so_ bad. By this time Vasquez surely knew what they had done, that they had stolen a **lot** of Hyperion cash, maybe even that the Key had been fake. God…He’ll want their heads on a spike and when he’ll have them he’ll put them in front of his office with their mouths opened to serve as mailboxes. Ugh…But as horrible as this day was, to his own surprise…

Vaughn was still having fun.

Sure, they were screwed in all kinds of ways, but he was still excited. They were going on a search for Vault! Not a lot of people could say they did that! Well, actually a lot of people could say that, there’s, like, a whole cult of them, wearing creepy masks and eating people’s eyelids as appetizers but…this was different. He looked at Rhys. He said he was “able to” track the Vault. How, that Vaughn didn’t know. Of course it had something to do with the entire Siren…thing but... If he is able to do it, they’ll find it for sure.

But that lead Vaughn to other kind of thoughts. Why Rhys never tried it before? Why the hell did he choose to work at Hyperion, a place for ordinary people and office rats? Sure, you can get filthy rich on the way up, but finding and looting Vaults would make you **insanely** rich, Vaughn was 100% sure. Rhys could actually lead an exciting, thrilling life of a Vault hunter but he chose to be a desk jockey. He could’ve been looked up to and admired, he could’ve become a legend. But one look at him told Vaughn there was something more to it, a bigger reason. He remembered how the thought of going on a Vault hunt made Rhys sick. How he said that he could not do it _again_. **_Again_**. That word, said in Rhys’s desperate voice, echoed around Vaughn’s head. It meant Rhys must’ve done it before and the hunt itself had probably gone horribly wrong. What worried him most was that he had no idea when that could’ve happened. They hadn’t left each other’s side since they were fourteen. He’ll have to ask Rhys about it, get some answers out of him when he feels better. He was his best friend, he had the right to know! If he had a secret like this Rhys would’ve been the first one to know. Vaughn sighed. They sure had a long, hard talk coming.

A silent hum tore him out of his thoughts. Vaughn bolted up from the stairs. It wasn’t just any hum, it was…something more. There were strong shivers running down his back and arms, it made every hair on the back of his neck stand. His breath got stuck in his chest. The hum was enchanting, beautiful on an otherworldly level. It slowly turned into a melody, touching Vaughn’s very heart, moving something rooted so deep inside him, that he had to cover his mouth so he wouldn’t whimper out loud. He wanted to scream, to take off his clothes and his skin, to wrap himself into the heavenly music. What the hell? Vaughn looked around himself feverishly, searching for the source of the sound. He had to find it, see it, keep it… He had to find where that sound was coming from. Was it the hills? The rocks? Was it coming from the sky? Because it really could be coming from the sky, or the outer space, it sounded so celestial… But then Vaughn realized that it was coming from a place that was much, _much_ closer.

It was Rhys, singing.

Vaughn let his jaw drop. Rhys was still sitting on the stairs, head propped against the doorframe and eyes closed. He was gently rocking back and forth, looking like he was half asleep, or in trance. Vaughn sat back next to him, watching him in disbelief. It seemed almost impossible that Rhys was capable of a thing like that. Vaughn knew Rhys had a thing for singing, he caught him humming to himself numerous times, he also had a great voice but this…this was something else. Ancient and mystical. And it made Vaughn _feel_ all these things. He just sat there and listened, watching the soft blue glow come out of Rhys’s arm, now even more visible in dusk’s receding light. It traveled across Rhys’s chest and began to swarm around his injury, calmly pulsating. It reflected on his face and gave it a cold tint. If someone told Vaughn they were floating freely in space, he would believe them. He forgot everything, all he wanted to do now, was to be with Rhys.

Rhys’s quiet song began to fade out, as did the blue lights floating around his shoulder. With the last tone of his song he lost all his strength and slumped against Vaughn, who barely managed to catch him. Rhys’s weight surprised him, for a second he didn’t even expect him to be tangible. Vaugh found it hard to believe that this person, currently dozing off in his arms, was still his Rhys.

That changed in the second Rhys became drooling on him from his sleep. Yep, it was still him.

Vaugh held him closer and combed through Rhys’s hair with his fingers. He didn’t know why, he just felt it was the right thing to do. Sleeping Rhys didn’t even notice.

“Your friend is very special.”  Vaughn jolted. For a moment he forgot there were people around him. More precisely, Felix squatting behind them, looking at Rhys with curiosity.

“Y-yeah…I guess he is.” His eyes trailed to Rhys’s wound, where the light had been coiling wile Rhys sang. But instead of a gaping wound, there was just a light scar.


	10. Chapter 10

The roof of the caravan was still warm, even though the sun had set quite some time ago. Vauhgn and Rhys were lying on top of it, covered by thin blankets Sasha threw at them before sending them to the roof. Or more precisely, she threw them at Vaughn who had to coax half-unconscious Rhys there. Right now Vaughn was trying to get some sleep, but he couldn’t. Mostly because there was half a dozen Rakks circling above them, which he was pretty sure could fly down and start pecking their eyes out if they aren’t careful. And also he just felt so…weird. This was the first night he would spend away from Hyperion in a **long** time. He was by no means used to spaces as huge as this. The night sky, the desert, both so vast that he felt like a castaway in the middle of the ocean, sailing on a shabby raft. Even the air was different, dryer and unprocessed. Vaughn shivered. All those new sensations were making him alert and far, far from tired. Perhaps if he was sleeping inside the caravan, he would be feeling better. He tried to watch the night sky, but it was making him way too uneasy. He searched for something else to look at. Something familiar that would remind him of home, of Hyperion. A quiet rustle on his side caught his attention. It was just Rhys turning from one side to another, Vaughn saw that a thousand times before on numerous sleepovers they had. Even though Rhys now felt like a new person to him, it stroke close to home and Vaughn calmed down almost instantly. He wiggled a bit closer to Rhys and tightened the blanket around himself. He listened to Rhys’s breathing and kept his eyes on him until his eyelids became heavy. He didn’t even know he was asleep, when he got woken up violently by screeches. He bolted up. Still dizzy, he looked around. Rhys was up as well.

“The fuck was that?” Rhys asked, voice half sleepy, half terrified.

“I dunno. It came from above.” Vaughn said hoarsely. They looked up and in the same moment few drops of warm, smelly liquid fell on their faces.

“Eww, what is that? Did it come from-“

“Those Rakks above? I bet my ass it was them.”

“Vaughn, unless you want to end up like me, I advise you not to bet your body parts. Do I want to know what is that stuff on my face?”

“I’d say it’s blood. One Rakk’s missing, the rest probably tore the poor guy up and ate him. That would explain the screeching too.” Rhys pulled a face.

“Yikes. You think that was the one who brought them here for a meal and they got tired of waiting and just decided to eat him?” Vaughn laughed and threw his hands in the air.

“Perhaps. I wouldn’t be surprised, judging by the nature of this planet. Everything and everyone here wants to kill everything and everyone.” Rhys just snorted and started to wipe Rakk blood away from his cheeks.

“Where are we anyway? The caravan roof?” Vaughn nodded.

“Yeah, Sasha made me push you up here after you-“ Suddenly Vaughn’s mind was flooded with memories of Rhys singing, glowing and doing all kinds of strange, mysterious stuff. He remembered all the questions he wanted Rhys to answer and realized that now is probably the right moment to ask them. They were alone, they had nowhere to go and they had time until morning.

“After I what?” Rhys asked. Vaughn took a breath and looked up at the sky. He took some time and then looked back at Rhys.

“After you healed yourself with a song and fell asleep.” But Vaughn was sure he’d classify it more as a comatose state, than sleep. He didn’t want to bother Rhys with such details, though, he wanted to keep everything as simple as possible to get to his point fast. Rhys, however, didn’t understand Vaughn’s simplified version of the evening’s events so Vaughn had to start anew, telling him everything that happened since they had a talk with Felix. Rhys was fairly surprised when Vaughn told him about the song and how strongly it appealed to him, they even pulled Rhys’s shirt away and revealed the pink scar where a wound used to be. Rhys was looking at the scar with disbelief.

“I didn’t know I could do that.” He stammered in conclusion. He poked at the scar and watched it go slightly white. Vaughn watched him play with it and decided now was the time. He cleared his throat. No response.

“Rhys?” Rhys’s head snapped from his shoulder to look at Vaughn.

“Yes?” Vaughn bit his lip. Rhys looked horrible. So fragile.

“I…” Are you really a Siren? Why didn’t you tell me? Why do you hide it? What powers do you have? Why didn’t you tell me? How big are your tattoos? Why do they glow? When do they glow? Why didn’t you tell me?

“I…” Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me? _Whydidn’tyoutellme? **Whydidn’tyoutellme?**_ “

“I have so many questions.” Vaughn said in voice more betrayed than planned. Rhys straightened his back.

“I can imagine.” He said.

“I don’t even know where to start! I mean, so many strange things happened in the last few hours that I don’t even know what I wanted to ask you in the first place!” Rhys wiggled uncomfortably.

“I understand. This…this isn’t the way I wanted you to find out.”

“Did you even want me to find out?” Vaughn asked bitterly and he immediately regretted it. Rhys didn’t answer.

“Rhys, were you planning to tell me at all?”

“I..I wouldn’t really call it planning…It was more like I knew I’d tell you someday but…there hasn’t really been a good occasion.” Vaughn looked at him with doubt.

“You really mean to tell me that ever since we met there hasn’t been one moment when you could’ve told me?” Rhys ran a hand through his hair.

“You know what I meant...This isn’t something you bring up at lunch or on a break between lessons.” Vaughn’s look made hem rethink.

“Or at least it feels like that to me.” He muttered and then threw his hands in the air, “I don’t know, Vaughn, most of the time I felt normal, sometimes…I even forgot what I was. That’s why I didn’t feel like telling you. It didn’t really matter to me. Then there were times when I almost lost control and I remembered how different I could be. But at those times there was always something more important happening, like finals, busy nights at work and such…” Vaughn just listened quietly, leaving his thoughts just to himself. He was still sure that Rhys could’ve told him sooner.

“It’s different now. It’s like Pandora pushed me against the wall and made me lose control. And you saw it all and of course you have many questions, because how wouldn’t you have? I’d have many questions too if I saw so much weird shit at once. And I’ll answer them, okay? It’s just...I didn’t picture myself spilling my deepest secrets to you on the roof of a caravan in Pandoran desert while we’re on a run from practically everyone we know.” Vaughn nodded. Rhys kept staring at the roof beneath them.

“And…how did you picture it?” Rhys looked up at Vaughn and his lips formed a tight line. There was a while of silence, then Rhys grinned.

“Ah, calmer I guess? More homey?  Maybe…maybe we’d finish a round of Keg-a-Tron, I’d set down the controller and say: hey Vaughn, I’d like to tell you something. You’re probably not going to believe it but...it’s true.” Vaughn smiled. Maybe there was a way for Rhys to redeem himself.

“And I’d say say: Sure Rhys, I’m all ears.”

“And then I wouldn’t really know what to say, because all I had was the feeling that I wanted to confess to you, and I didn’t really think it through. Or if I did, I’d forget all I wanted to say.”

“I would notice that you were struggling, so I’d try to help you out.”

“How?” Vaughn scooted closer and put his arm around Rhys’s shoulders. His fingers reached all the way to Rhys’s empty arm socket and he withdrew them a bit. It felt strange when Rhys’s arm wasn’t there.

“You can tell me anything bro, you know that.” Rhys leaned into Vaughn for support.

“Vaughn-“ He thought of all the things he could say and what would be the best way to put it. Only then he realized that now the situation was different and Vaughn already knew the truth. He swallowed the lump in his throat “I’m a Siren.”

Silence

“Oh my god, I had no idea it would feel so good to finally tell you!” Rhys called out and Vaughn giggled. He pulled Rhys closer.

“That’s my boy! Tell you what, it feels good to hear it from you too.” Rhys smiled warmly. “But I still have a lot of questions.” He wanted to sigh, but he knew it was inevitable. And he already told Vaughn he’d answer his questions.

“Come at me. But one question at a time, okay?” He said and put his arm around Vaughn’s shoulders, so they could hold each other. Their heads were close, one propped against another, and they felt each other’s warmth.

“What does it mean to be a Siren?” 

“What…kind of question is that?” Rhys asked with giggles.

“Well, you know, what is actually a Siren? How do you become one? What powers do you have, stuff like that…”

“That’s a lot of questions stacked into one, you cheater!”

“So what? Pull it apart into separate questions and start answering! These ears are hungry for some Siren facts.” They didn’t know when was the last time they laughed like this. A wave of relief ran through both of them, their laughter was like a rain on hot summer afternoon, it watered what began to wilt and filled the air with promise of good times. Rhys wanted to be closer to Vaughn, much closer.

“So…what is a Siren? I’d say I am a…rare form of human existence? Does it sound weird?”

“A bit. Maybe if you explained-“

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Well, I was born like this. Both my parents were fairly normal, I don’t know if the stars aligned in some way or my mom got a dose of eridium or…whatever, I was born like this. With a blue dot on my left shoulder that would eventually grow out into a sleeve tattoo and voice so strong the obstetrician nearly went deaf when he pulled me out.”

“Yeah, I got a taste of that a few times today, actually.” Rhys winced.

“Yikes, sorry.”

“Don’t mind it, continue.”

“Well, my parents taught me everything they could, but there wasn’t much reliable information, only legends and stories people told each other. Sirens are…quite rare.” Rhys’s back began to hurt. He had one hand around Vaughn’s back but no other to prop himself with, so his back was awkwardly twisted to balance it out. He mentioned it to Vaughn and they lied down, hands still on each other.

“And what powers do you know about? What can you do?”

“Except the super annoying screeching? Not much. You saw my hand glowing-“

“Yeah, what’s up with that?”

“I don’t know exactly. It’s some strange kind of energy, every time that happens I feel the marks on my hand throbbing. I can put the energy to some use, let it out, turn it into light or destroy something, like I did with the lock on Vasquez’s door.”

“You what?! You screwed up Vasquez’s door?”

“Yeah, when he ‘promoted’ me. I couldn’t hold back.” Vaughn giggled and nudged Rhys into his ribs.

“You devil.” He grinned and Rhys scoffed. They went silent, Rhys was looking up at the night sky and Vaughn was watching him. Rhys’s lips were resting in the same soft smile they were back in the deployment room, when they still had no idea what would happen to them here and when they thought going to Pandora was a good idea. But maybe, just maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. After all, if they hadn‘t gone here, Rhys wouldn’t have told Vaughn about all this, they wouldn’t be holding each other like this and Vaughn wouldn’t get to look at that soft smile Rhys had when he was looking at stars. Upon thinking that, Vaughn made a connection in his head.

“And what about space?”

“What about it?” Rhys’s insides tightened.

“Well, the whole thing about Sirens being Children of Stars, able to travel and breathe in space...”

“Oh, yeah…” Rhys bit his lip. This was perhaps the strangest thing about him. But promise was a promise. “That’s true. Well, I was out there only once, but I know I’d be able to do it.” Vaughn looked at him with wide eyes. He expected Rhys would tell him it was just a myth.

“You were out there? In space? When?”

“Uh, I got airlocked once…”

Vaughn didn’t take it as badly as Rhys thought he would. He listened to his story about the airlock and didn’t say a word. Only when Rhys finished, he uttered a quiet: “Awesome”. A considerable weight dropped from Rhys’s shoulders upon hearing that. In fact, he was so relieved that when Vaughn asked to see his marks he agreed with ease, even though it was a bit against his nature. Vaugh rolled to his side, pulled up Rhys’s sleeve and began to examine them. They were dark against Rhys’s skin, slightly protruding and seemed like they were thinner than regular skin. Like outstretched scars. They covered his entire arm, from his wrist to the center of his chest. It was like he was looking at tiger’s patterns. They were naturally perfect. Breathtaking. Vaughn wondered why he never saw them before. Probably because Rhys never let him. He always wore long sleeves. It wasn’t so strange when they were on Helios, because the air was always a bit cold up there, but back home when the summers were hot and humid Rhys stuck out like a thumb. Vaughn always thought it was because of the mechanic arm. When he started to wear shirts that reveal his prosthetics and cover his flesh arm it made Vaughn question Rhys’s intentions. But now he understood.

“So…you can travel in space,”

“Uhm”

“You can blast energy into anything,”

“Basically yes.”

“And you can locate artifacts leading to Vaults,” He began to stroke the patterns with his fingers subconsciously. Rhys felt shivers on his back from the touch. The marks were really sensitive.

“Y-yes”

“And yet you decide to drown yourself in paperwork and work in a stressing, toxic environment of Hyperion as an office rat.” Even though he was a bit light headed from the way Vaughn was touching him, he knew where this was going and he didn’t really like it.

“Exactly.”

“Why? Why don’t you use your talents and go on crazy Vault hunts when you were born to do it?” At first, Rhys didn’t answer. For quite a while, actually. He was thinking.

“Vaughn, if you want a lucid answer to that you’ll have to stop touching me like that.” Vaughn’s hand snapped away immediately.

“Oh god, am I hurting you?”

“No, no, It’s just…hard to concentrate when you’re doing it.” Rhys muttered and Vaughn knew that look, those averted eyes and badly hidden smile. Vaughn felt blood rushing somewhere away from his brain. Of course it had to happen now, at this moment. Great. Ten points to you, Vaughn. But when Rhys drew in a sharp breath, he knew he had to focus.

“It’s because…I’ve been on a Vault hunt before. And it was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me.”

“Do…you want to talk about it?”

“I…”

“It’s cool if you don’t want to. Just saying.” Rhys nodded.

“No, no. I think you should know.”

“Allright, I’m listening then.” Rhys set his hand on his belly and looked at the stars and blue aurora on Pandoran sky. It was easier to think of words like that. With clenched teeth he let himself think about the things he usually willed himself to avoid.

“It…happened when I was still a kid.”

“Oh boy…”


	11. Chapter 11

Rhys was looking for the right words.

“My parents told me always told to put maximum effort in hiding-what I was. They warned me about people wanting to use me for my powers and stuff like that…I didn’t really believe them until it happened.” Vaughn bit his lip.

“They took me from in front of our house. The street was full of kids that day and yet no one had seen them coming and taking me. They were a group searching for Vaults, very much like these conmen we’re with right now. Somehow they must have found out what I was and where I lived, maybe they even watched me for some time, because when they came it took no more than a blink of an eye for them to pull me inside their car and drive away. Then they kept me with them all summer, wanted me to trace Vaults for them. And I had no idea how. They drove me far away from our city and we travelled off road all the time. I was so _goddamn_ _scared_.” Rhys swallowed. Vaughn was barely breathing. He had no idea…

“But what I remember the most is this…huge dirty dog they had. Terrifying. His breath smelled like death because of how rotten his teeth were and had an eye missing, he only had a socket filled with pus. They made him stay with me all the time so I wouldn’t run away. He was always growling at me and snapping at my ankles. I think…I think he was so mad because he was in so much pain all the time, but I still can’t bring myself to forget him entirely. Or forgive him.” When he said that his empty arm socket twithced without Rhys wanting it to. Vaughn's eyes lingered on it and he felt his throat go dry. He desperately hoped it wasn't that damn dog's doing.

“Did he do that to you?” He asked carefully.

“No, not directly. He bit my arm and by the time I got home the wound was so infected it couldn’t have been helped. It had to go.”

“Jesus Christ, Rhys.” Vaughn didn’t know what else to say, or what to do. He felt paralyzed by Rhys’s words. There was no way this was really what happened to him. He wanted to cry for him, to make those people pay for what they’ve done. Only now he could get close to understanding how going on another Vault hunt against his will must’ve made him feel. He wanted to hold him close and firm, to tell him everything was going to be fine. To protect Rhys because right now he looked like a man that needed it. Could he? Should he? Maybe he should ask him first…

Screw it. Screw holding back.

“Come here.” He whispered and reached for Rhys. He put one arm around his shoulders and with the other he pulled Rhys’s head against his chest. He felt Rhys stiffen. Vaughn’s breath got stuck in his chest. He couldn’t have gone too far, could he? But then Rhys relaxed against him and Vaughn felt him nuzzling into his chest.

“Vaughn?”

“Yes?”

“Just remember that it had already happened and that I got home in the end. It was horrible, but it was in the past.”

“Uhm.”

“And I’m okay with the things that happened.” Vaughn frowned.

“You are?”

“Yeah, I went to therapy and all. I hardly ever think of it. It does little to nothing to me.” Vaughn raised his eyebrows.

“Freaking out after these guys told you to find a Vault doesn’t seem like nothing to me.” Rhys headbutted him in his ribs.

“That was for the show, man!”

“Was it now?” Rhys pulled away a bit.

“Vaughn…do you not want me to feel fine about it?” Vaughn drew a breath.

“No, no, that’s not the thing. I just don’t want you to lie to me.” Rhys averted his eye and then he rested his forehead against Vaughn’s chest again.

 “Well, I meant some of it. Those are things that happened a long, _long_ time ago and they weren’t left unattended. The counseling started shortly after I got admitted to hospital. It still makes me uncomfortable as hell, but at least it doesn’t…haunt…me like it used to. I’m not going to cry over it now, Vaughn. Not ever. I’ve got this.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Really, I mean it.” Vaughn felt how the urgency, with which he pulled Rhys close, left him. Now he felt awkward. Maybe he really should’ve asked Rhys first.

“But that doesn’t mean you should stop this. It feels nice.” Rhys said with a smile and huddled closer to Vaughn. Vaughn chuckled and started to stroke patterns on Rhys’s back while looking at him. Today he found out so many things about him that it was hard to believe. There was no doubt it brought them closer. Even literally, they were practically cuddling right now, Vaughn realized. And he had no problem with that. Actually, it was the most natural thing in this situation. Rhys wiggled in his arms, pulled his hand around Vaughn’s waist and looked up at the sky.

“I always liked this Pandoran aurora. It’s real pretty from Helios, but not as pretty as from down here. I can’t get enough of it.” He said with a smooth voice. He was glad they changed the topic. And he was really digging it, this cuddling business of theirs. It made his insides tingle. Rhys found a soft spot inside him for Vaughn illuminated by bluish-violet lights of aurora. It hit his face in a really nice way, brought up his cheeks, reflected from his glasses and hair and…lips… When did they get this close? This atmosphere was really doing wonders for them.

“What the hell are you talking about?” And there goes the atmosphere. Rhys looked at him and then pointed at the sky.

“There? On the sky? That huge-ass glowing line?” Vaughn looked from Rhys to the sky and then back to Rhys.

“Where?” Rhys sat up.

“Are you kidding me? It’s like a reflector, you can’t miss it.”

“Well, apparently I’m missing it.” Rhys was pissing him off when he acted like this.

“Right above us, a line going towards the horizon that way.” He pointed to the left. Vaughn looked that way but saw nothing.

“Rhys, I see no such thing.” Rhys looked at him helplessly and then back at the aurora.

“But you have to… It’s right there.” He uttered. Vaughn started to feel bad for him.

“Are you allright? Maybe you should get something to drink.” He had no idea what he should do when people start seeing things. But, after all, Rhys wasn’t human, was he? Maybe it’s something…

“No, I’m fine Vaughn, I promise. But it’s hundred percent there. Bright, radiant and blue.”

“Blue?”

“Yeah, bl-“ Suddenly something in Rhys’s head clicked into place. He lit up blue. Blue was his color. Could the light be his? Before he could give it a second thought all his hair stood up and he looked up. The bright blue light above them got closer, leaned down to Rhys and he felt a tremendous wave of energy hit him. It was like he got struck by lightning, static crackled around him and he smelled the strong smell of Space. The energy was falling on him like a waterfall, it was storing itself inside him, condensing, filling every part of him. Rhys was so overwhelmed he couldn’t even scream. The blue light was everywhere around him. A sight more than familiar. He knew he had to follow it wherever it would want to take him. He was attracted to him exactly like a moth would be attracted to candlelight. He had wings. He could use them now, just take off and follow the light. They were about to burst out of his back at any moment. He wanted to go so badly. But he knew he couldn’t. He wouldn’t leave Vaughn, not ever. The Vault was pulling him strongly, but he was able to resist.

Vaughn, of course, saw no light, no light until Rhys turned his face to the sky once more and and suddenly there was a huge flash of bright blue. It didn’t last, but now Vaughn was sure Rhys wasn’t making fun of him before. He seemed to see something more, he was mesmerized by it. A strong smell of something burned hit Vaughn’s nose. His eyes were glued on Rhys, who’s clothes and hair seemed to battle against a strong wind, even though there was none. His marks lit up like never before, they were white like melted iron. Rhys’s shirt obviously couldn’t stand it, the whole sleeve burned right off. He turned to Vaughh, who crawled back in an instant. Rhys’s eye was also shining with that insufferable white light. Vaughn was suddenly terribly hot because of the heat waves escaping from Rhys. This was insane, all of it. Rhys didn’t look like himself anymore. Vaughn realized that he was on his own in this situation.

 Rhys noticed how terrified Vaughn looked and it toned down his euphoria. He didn’t want Vaughn to be terrified of him. He reached his hand towards him, but Vaughn jerked away and nearly fell from the roof. It broke Rhys’s heart a little, but he didn’t give up. He smiled and his hand went closer to Vaughn. And Vaughn never saw a smile like that before. It extinguished every bit of Vaughn’s fear and replaced it with trust. He wasn’t sure if Rhys didn’t use some special Siren mojo on him, but did it really matter? Even though he still looked terrifying, with light coming out of his every orifice, Vaughn took his hand. Rhys helped him stand up. Vaughn could swear he saw an outline of big blue wings behind him, but it was just for a split second. Everything was oddly silent.

“Are you gonna explain this shit, or what?” Vaughn spat out. Rhys gave him an awkward smile and all the light quickly faded out.

“I-Sure! It was the path to the Vault!”

“The thing you saw?”

“Yeah! It called me, and I answered! I don’t know how, or how could I do it again. But it feels AWESOME!”

“Are you proud of yourself?”

“Hell, of course I am! SIRENS RULE, BABY!” He punched the air and lost his balance. Vaughn wasn’t quick enough to catch him and watched how Rhys toppled over the edge of the roof and fell off it. He hurried to the edge too and heard a dull thud from beneath him. Rhys was sprawled on the dust, groaning. That meant he was still alive, right?

“Rhys, are you allright?”

“Yeah, yeah, just…hit my head a bit…ow…and my ass too.” He just began to scramble himself off the ground when the caravan door opened with a pissed off Fiona inside them.

“Would you two be kind enough to shut the fuck up? It’s the middle of the night. I thought you were on a brink of death or something and needed a rest. What happened with that?” She said and pointed a finger at Rhys.

“Well…I sure was…” Rhys sat up and propped himself on his hand, looking all smooth.

“And what’s up with your shirt? It’s all burned up, you look like a hobo. Even though I’d say it’s an improvement.”

_“Excuse you?”_

“Shut uuup. Just go back to the roof and sleep, or I’ll handcuff you inside and you’ll sleep like that.”

“Then I’d just keep screaming at you until you’d put the cuffs down.”

“I’d put a rug in your mouth to muffle you. It wouldn’t be the first time, amigo.”

“Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you.” Rhys snapped back and Vaughn just rolled his eyes. He leaned over the edge and called: “Rhyyys!” at the same time as Sasha called: “Fionaaa!” from the inside. The two just flipped each other off , Rhys lost his balance again and flopped on his back again. Fiona snorted and closed the door. Rhys made a face at her, stood up and came to the ladder.

“You need any help?” Vaughn asked and Rhys shook his head.

“No no. I’ve got this.” He stepped up and realized he had one hand less than he’d need. “I’ve got this, like, in a bag that’s-” he used his forehead instead of his other hand, “-that’s in a trunk of car that’s-“ he pulled himself up, “in a garage and uhh, yeah. Got it.” Rhys climbed to the top and rolled onto the roof with a sigh. Vaughn scooted closer and observed Rhys, who just lifted his eyebrows.

“Yes?”

“It’s just so weird. To see you acting like yourself again, when you were a human lightbulb a second ago.” Rhys grinned.

“I couldn’t help it. Sorry. But it felt so good, Vaughn, you have no idea. To finally connect. I didn’t know how much I needed it. There’s so much energy in me right now. I can’t wait to find the Vault” Vaughn lied down next to him.

“So…Vault hunt is okay now?” he asked carefully.

“Y-yeah. It’s strange. But I’m not as powerless as I was before. And there’s you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You’re with me. I’m not alone and you’re on my side. That makes a huge difference. You give me so much strength, you always do. It’s…I’m really glad you’re here.” Vaughn was speechless. All he could do was smile like a dork. He wasn’t sure Rhys would’ve told him that in any other situation. And it made him feel a bit more important too. Because when he compared himself to Rhys with his looks and wits and charm and now all those Siren powers, he felt so small and unimportant. Now it was better. He moved himself closer to Rhys and hugged him.

“Anytime.” He murmured and felt Rhys’s hand on him, inviting him to stay. He didn’t protest, just made himself more comfortable. When Rhys started to scratch Vaughn’s back lightly he felt shivers running down his spine. His body relaxed against Rhys and he closed his eyes. He felt home again. They should…no, they will do this more often. He stroked Rhys’s waist, each move getting slower and slower as he was falling asleep.

“Vaugn?”

“Hnnnng”

“There’s too much energy in me. I can’t sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya,  
> I have a bit of a problem with Rhys's backstory. It was more detailed and elaborated in the draft, but then I got a feeling it didn't really fit into the whole narrative so I crossed it all out and now I feel like there is a lot missing. So...I'd really like to hear your opinion, whether it's good like this or the chapter should be changed, holes filled and so on :) I'm grateful for every bit of opinion and criticism.   
> Thanks in advance for your help, I couldn't do this without you <3


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